There's a photo on my maternal line that confuses me. Well, actually, lots of them confuse me. Many of the photos seem to be of a wedding, and depicting the happy couple. But then another photo will depict the same couple, but wearing different wedding garb. I'm concluding that one photo is actually of the couple's wedding, while another is of the couple standing up to someone ELSE'S wedding. Here's a photo of my maternal grandmother, Eugenia Orbik, and my maternal grandfather, Steven Marolewski. I thought, "wedding photo." Nope.
This is their wedding photo. Different boutonniere for Grandpa; different dress for Grandma. (How did they get that bow on the young girl to stand so tall?)
The men's tuxes all seem to match. The women's dresses complement each other, but do not match.
The men's tuxes all seem to match. The women's dresses complement each other, but do not match.
I wish I had a wedding photo for my paternal grandparents; I've never seen one.
.Here we have what appears to be Eugenia's Holy Communion, although she looks pretty old for that.
More flowers, occasion unknown. However, it appears as though Eugenia is older now. Note the same dress as in the supposed First Communion photo above, except that some of the features have been updated. The large bow is gone, and the sleeves may have been reworked. Also, she has lovely white high top boots. (This photo is on a heavier paper stock, and was torn in half when I got it.)Next time, I'll share another photo that has me puzzled. Was it common practice for immigrants to re-stage their wedding once they arrived in the U.S.?
On a different note: Congressional hearings take place this week on the Social Security Death Index. It would be a blow if this valuable resource were inaccessible. See Occupy Genealogy on Facebook for information on what's happening with the SSDI, and how you can help.
3 comments:
Linda,
What lovely photos you have here - such treasures. Here are a couple of thoughts you may want to consider:
The first photo may not be a wedding photo but an engagement photo. This was often the custom for couples.
The other possibility is that they had two weddings - one civil and one in the church. Many European and Latin American countries required couples to be married civilly before a religious wedding ceremony could take place. Sometimes both ceremonies took place on the same day, but in many cases, the church wedding was delayed by months and even years, for various reasons.
The picture of Eugenia as a young girl is most likely of her First Communion. From about the 16th through the 19th centuries, the Catholic Church changed the order of the Sacraments. Infants always received the Sacrament of Baptism, but Confirmation was conferred on children during the "age of discretion," or between ages 7 - 15, followed by First Communion. A number of "modern" countries obtained permission to change the practice in the early 20th century to allow children to make their First Eucharist (First Communion) at around age 7 and be Confirmed at about age 14 or 15 (though today the Church is re-thinking this).
All the best to you as you try to solve these and other mysteries.
Linda
www.manybranchesonetree.blogspot.com
Linda, thank you! I hadn't considered an engagement photo. It seemed an awful expense to get a dress, flowers, tux, etc. just for that. I figured that since they were working class folks, they wouldn't have spent money on that.
Regarding the second photo, I haven't found Jozef and Marya Marolewski's wedding in a Chicago church so far... but then again, I wasn't looking, since they'd been married for some time. I assumed the church wedding would have taken place in Poland, prior to coming to the U.S. (And everyone knows that genealogists should not assume ;)
I figured that one photo was Eugenia's First Communion. I'm curious about how much time passed between that photo and the one of her wearing the same dress at a later date. Reworking the dress seems quite frugal and in keeping with what I'd expect of a working class family.
I'll check on the existence of any marriages. Thanks again for your insight!
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