Our parents were married in a double wedding with our aunt and uncle, 80 yrs ago this week. We've been chatting about it, laughing, remembering many good
times together. My mother's wedding dress, is still upstairs. The fabric described in the newspaper, was a light chiffon weight fabric, colors described as
"Ashes of Roses." My aunt borrowed a dress from one of their girlfriends.
The couples were taught to save $$, by their stern red-headed Scottish father, an immigrant from Nova Scotia, Angus, a hard working guy who never missed a day of work, from the job which was so hard to find, when he first arrived in the Boston area. He liked my father, but didn't like my uncle.
My uncle Cyril was always hungry and when he came to their home, he'd raid
the refrigerator, a confrontational issue with Angus, whose union card and wallet is here with me as I write. He died just before their double wedding, 80 year
ago.
The sister brides were born in Roxbury, at the top of the Highland St. hill, 2 of 5 children, who lost their mother to cancer when very young, leaving Angus a broken hearted widower, with 5 young children..
There was a group of Scottish immigrants up there, in Roxbury, near where orator Edward Everett Hale lived. Those Scots were known as the "Two Boat Scotch." The first boat was from Scotland to Nova Scotia, early 1800's; the 2nd boat was from Novi to Boston, early 1900's.
On Sat. nights, they used to all gather with the bagpipes, drums, fiddles, around a piano, in a kitchen which was below st. level, and have "Kitchen Rackets," which were less well heard by police up on the Morley St. level.
They all knew the Scottish dancing, jigs, etc. and were known to enjoy the native brew.
Our parents were the next generation, WWI, The Depression, WWII,... After their
double wedding, they went to NYC, and stayed in a "Big Hotel," near Broadway, for a long weekend, being back to their jobs, on Tues. am, taking only1
day off from work.
My sister and I remember the 2 anniv. couples getting together at our house, on Sat. nights, and playing cards, mostly poker, well into the night, listening to the radio, in the backround, Guy Lombardo?, coming from a ballroon in NYC, the Rainbow Room?, which they'd visited on their brief honeymoons.
They had each put the down payments on their first houses, bought most of their furniture, in cash, in the days before credit, and moved right in, when they got back from their honeymoons. Happy would-be 80th, you folks.
The couples were taught to save $$, by their stern red-headed Scottish father, an immigrant from Nova Scotia, Angus, a hard working guy who never missed a day of work, from the job which was so hard to find, when he first arrived in the Boston area. He liked my father, but didn't like my uncle.
My uncle Cyril was always hungry and when he came to their home, he'd raid
the refrigerator, a confrontational issue with Angus, whose union card and wallet is here with me as I write. He died just before their double wedding, 80 year
ago.
The sister brides were born in Roxbury, at the top of the Highland St. hill, 2 of 5 children, who lost their mother to cancer when very young, leaving Angus a broken hearted widower, with 5 young children..
There was a group of Scottish immigrants up there, in Roxbury, near where orator Edward Everett Hale lived. Those Scots were known as the "Two Boat Scotch." The first boat was from Scotland to Nova Scotia, early 1800's; the 2nd boat was from Novi to Boston, early 1900's.
On Sat. nights, they used to all gather with the bagpipes, drums, fiddles, around a piano, in a kitchen which was below st. level, and have "Kitchen Rackets," which were less well heard by police up on the Morley St. level.
They all knew the Scottish dancing, jigs, etc. and were known to enjoy the native brew.
Our parents were the next generation, WWI, The Depression, WWII,... After their
double wedding, they went to NYC, and stayed in a "Big Hotel," near Broadway, for a long weekend, being back to their jobs, on Tues. am, taking only1
day off from work.
My sister and I remember the 2 anniv. couples getting together at our house, on Sat. nights, and playing cards, mostly poker, well into the night, listening to the radio, in the backround, Guy Lombardo?, coming from a ballroon in NYC, the Rainbow Room?, which they'd visited on their brief honeymoons.
They had each put the down payments on their first houses, bought most of their furniture, in cash, in the days before credit, and moved right in, when they got back from their honeymoons. Happy would-be 80th, you folks.
God knows I have
plenty of hand-outs for everyone....
