MY WEDDING MEMORIES by DOROTHY CRESSMAN (with Almond's help) The year was 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression. Almond and I had gone together since high school. Our romance had been an "on again-off again" courtship. My father would tell me "The course of true love never runs smoothly." After one of our breakups, Almond told his friends that if we ever got back together again he'd marry me before I had a chance to change my mind. So we did make up, and he popped the question. He went to Detroit and his uncle took Almond to a jeweler he knew and trusted. Almond picked out the rings and also an amethyst necklace as a wedding gift. I was teaching school for $40 a month in a one-room country schoolhouse. I would have one week's vacation at Christmas so we decided to get married on Christmas Day. Back then, in Michigan, it was required to have your marriage license a week ahead of time and it would be printed in the local paper. During the Depression very few protestants were having Church weddings because they cost too much, so my folks wanted us to get married at their home. Then the preparations started! Mother and I went to Lansing shopping for a wedding dress and other things I would need. We found a beautiful royal purple transparent velvet dress at Lansing Dry Goods Store for $15. Then I found cloth slippers which I had [dyed] to match the dress and a lovely matching hat. We got the license - it was published in the Republican News. We engaged Rev. Earl Collins of the Congregational Church to marry us at the home of my parents, Frank & Edna Beck, December 25th at 5:00 p.m. My brother Maynard and his wife Ella Mae stood up with us. My wedding [bouquet] was a dozen yellow baby mums. It was a lovely wedding. My mother and aunts had prepared a very nice wedding dinner for Rev. Collins, his wife, and about 40 relatives. We then opened our wedding gifts. I remember the goose down pillows from Grandma & Grandpa Crom, quilt from Aunt Opal, feather bed and set of dishes from my folks, etc. It so happened that my brother Gaylord's wife was in the hospital with their first child so he offered us the use of their home for our first night of "wedded bliss". The next morning, after going to my parents for our goodbyes and last minute advice, we headed out on our Wedding Trip. Now Almond always prided himself on keeping his car in good running condition. Well, we got five miles from home and ran out of gas! We were right by Livingston's farm and Almond had to go there for gas. He was very embarrassed, and to make matters worse, it had been a cold, cold fall with lots of snow. The temperature had been below zero for several days. After Mr. Livingston graciously provided some gas, he had his hired man bring Almond back to our car. It was a 1928 four-door sedan - with no heater. It was nearly noon when, we got on our way. We got as far as Lapeer that night. We were fortunate enough to find a garage that would let us park the car there. Next morning we went over the Blue Water Bridge into Canada. About 100 miles into Canada we met a bus and [were] crowded off the road into an abutment. It was still well below zero. Our right front [axle] was bent, but we were able to drive to a blacksmith shop. When the man found out we were on our honeymoon he agreed to help us. In a few hours we were on our way again. We stayed in Buffalo, NY. When we got to our hotel room they had given us a room with twin beds! We made it to [Niagara] Falls and saw it all frosted over by day and lit up by night. It was very beautiful. The next morning we started home in a sleet storm. Almond couldn't see out the ice covered windshield. (We were due in Detroit that evening for a dinner and show with Almond's Uncle and Aunt.) So, we bought some candles and I got out the new wool car robe I had bought Almond for Christmas. I bundled myself up in that and held a candle to the windshield to keep a peek hole through the ice, but the candles melted all over the new robe. Later, we stopped for lunch and were telling people there of our troubles and someone suggested rubbing an onion on the windshield. We were desperate so we bought an onion and gave it a try. It did not work! Finally someone suggested we prop the hood of the car up with a corn cob. That did work! We arrived a little late in Detroit but went to our dinner and show. The next day we got home about noon and found [Almond's] mother, aunt, and neighbor ladies baking chocolate cakes for a reception for us at Olive Grange Hall that night. My mother and aunts baked the white cakes. It was a wonderful dance and reception with about 350 people there. After the reception was over we had to pack up those gifts and take them to Almond's folks. We were going to stay with them for a while. Almond had purchased a little home with 40 acres in Bingham Township but there were various repairs we wanted to make to the house before we moved in. Sunday we unpacked the gifts and Monday I went back to school. All in all, it was quite an eventful and memorable weekend. 12/93 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DOROTHY (BECK) CRESSMAN'S MEMOIRS The years were 1944 and 1945. Our country was at war, World War II. Many necessities of life were rationed, and Almond was in line for the draft. We had a 40-acre farm with a small house. When we learned we were to have a third child, we decided we needed more room. We sold our little farm and moved in with Almond's folks while we remodeled the house on the 100-acre farm. Building materials were hard to get because of the rationing. "Priorities" were necessary to obtain many things. We were determined to have inside plumbing; we had not had it before. With the help of relatives who had "priorities" to get the plumbing needs, we were able to proceed, but we were trying to get done before the arrival of the new baby. Many things were bartered through the "black market". Food was rationed but sometimes a person could get "black market" potatoes, and other items, too. Ration stamps were also traded. Our girls were outgrowing their shoes and uncles and aunts helped out with stamps for them. After selling our 40-acre farm, we had to store most of our household furnishings with relatives. Living with Almond's folks was rather cramped as there were his parents and a hired man, Almond and I and the two little girls. The house was small with no modern conveniences. The house would get rather cold overnight, so first thing in the A.M. the fires had to be built in the wood stoves. The teakettles had to be filled for hot water. The little ones usually stayed in bed until the house warmed up a little. Almond and the hired man would go to the barn to feed the cattle and milk the cows. Almond's mother and I would start breakfast and preparations for the day's work. When the men came in with the milk, it had to be put through the separator to separate the cream from the skimmed milk. Almond's mother churned the cream into butter. After breakfast, we always had to take the separator apart and wash it all. The cream was set in the pantry and the skimmed milk was fed to the hogs. We did the laundry about twice a week. We had to fill wash boilers with water and heat it on the old kitchen stove. The washing machine was a Maytag with a gasoline motor. We had to bring that into the kitchen along with the laundry tubs and fill with water. When weather permitted the clothes were hung out doors. In bad weather we had to string lines through the house and use clothes bars to dry clothes. We wore percale dresses and aprons, etc., and with little girls having many changes I was always having ironing to do. The men's heavy overalls, shirts and jackets were especially hard to launder, often needing the scrub board.