"Fearless Journalism" in the Pierz Journal, 1946

Wow, look at this cool article Larry found.  It's a clip from a newspaper in Perth, Australia in late October 1946, describing a wedding in (no doubt) Buckman,"Minn. USA".  We all know who wrote it (if you don't, click the "Math Hesch Reporter" label on the left ☺). It's obvious Math felt extremely secure in his relationships with people in the area.  My first thought was that it was his nephew Mike's wedding (whoo boy, can you imagine??) but no, Mom & Dad were married a whole month by then.

INCREDIBLE how much we'd miss if it wasn't for Larry ☺

At least one Sand mystery, solved

We heard from a wonderful new relative last night!  She's Magdalena (Sand) Block's great grand daughter Jenny, and she enclosed a few photographs.  Her grandmother was Hildegard Hoheisel and the delightful photos were passed along from her.  However, I believe a little suspense is good for your character, so we'll post them tomorrow or the next day ☺

But first, Solving the Sand Mystery:  remember the "Eight Women" photo we've puzzled over here on HH?  Over time, we figured out who each woman was except for two: the kneeling woman on the left, and the nectar pourer (bottom, with the pitcher). This was 1920, and we think it was probably a Hesch wedding.  In an exchange of emails, Jenny thought that the kneeling woman on the left was most likely Lena Block--dark hair, possibly pregnant, and one of Louisa's four daughters and a daughter-in-law to work that particular occasion. I think she's right.
Click the "Eight Women" link for the names ☺
THANKS, JENNY!!

A 1912 Who's Who in Buckman

On October 15, 1912, Peter Beka and Elizabeth Dengel were married in Buckman, Minnesota, with a full compliment of friends and relatives attending. About 100 years later, their niece Liz Mueller identified some of the people who were there.

(If you recall, we originally IDd this photo as Nick Mueller and Lena Dengel, but according to this, the happy couple is Peter and Liz.  Ahh, yes!  There are Nick and Lena as guests, on the left.  They were married 5 years earlier, in 1907).

You'll be able to sleep tonight after all.

Surnames mentioned on the pic include Braun, Beka, Stepan, Denzen, Suess, Kappes, Schmolke, Kelzenberg, Theis, Hurrle, Sitzman, Brausen, Breigenzer, Kuesel, Hortsch, Gashott, Pansky and Vierk as well as Muellers and Dengels. 

(I know you can read em when you click the pic, but this way, they're google-able, natch ☺).

I love that we can find the original news clipping about it, too!

The Henry Dengel family:

It's obvious these two photos were taken on the same day.  

They're all there in the group pic, see?

THANKS, AGAIN, CHRIS!

A Billmeyer Wedding

From the Morrison Co Atlas: Ervin & Louise (VanDerHeyden) Billmeyer & Parents, in 1962.  Ann and Theo Billmeyer most likely the couple next to the groom, with John and Catherine (?) VanDerHeyden next to the bride.

Math Hesch & Mary Tetiva

Weddings and Shiverees Reported

with a "moderate tightening of the grain belt"

I witnessed a Shiveree when I was about 14, while I visited the sister of one of our neighbors, out in Melrose.  I didn't think it was near as funny as the family did, but then, I did learn how to "short-sheet" a bed (after the older kids carefully set the thing together with vaseline so it'd fall apart with only a bit of movement).  It seemed to me people could get hurt, and I figured a first night together would be awkward enough without anyone's help.  But, they didn't ask me...☺

Here are some accounts from the Pierz Journal that seem to involve noise more than anything, but they'll make you laugh, too.

January 27, 1910

As far as I know, these couples weren't related (except for the Kippley/Otremba couple--they were Janice Janson's grandparents, I assume).  
Too bad this charming custom's been lost, huh? ☺

Wedding flowers from the 1920s

Old photos are hard for me to ignore (..you've  guessed that already? ☺).  On top of that, the former florist in me is logically attracted to wedding flowers....which equals a whole bunch of submitted wedding pics from the atlases that I had to scan and show you.  

Most brides try to look their best on their wedding day, and by the 1920s in America, current fashions were a big part of it. I didn't realize before finding these pics how things had changed:  grandma Lizzie Sand Hesch was married in 1910 in a usable dress--one she could and did wear later.  It was practical, and the custom then.  

By the time my Janson grandparents got married, in 1913, grandma Margaret Naber wore a fancy white dress bought just for that occasion, and never worn again.  (Altho, the Nabers were fairly wealthy, which had something to do with it, no doubt).

These photos aren't of relatives, but  they were all married in the 1920s in Morrison county, Mn.  This decade was right after the War to End All Wars, WWI.  From our vantage point some 90 years in the future, we know it was during Prohibition and before the stock market crashed in 1929; before the dust bowl years of the 1930s and the Great Depression.  Farms in Morrison were settled (the pioneer period was over), and they were producing well and were  being inherited by the first generation born here.  These couples mostly had large families, tho not as large as the families they came from.  There was a sense of well-being, I think, and a desire to display an optimism and bounty that didn't appear again till after WWII.  

 Can we really deduce all that from a few wedding pictures?  Sure.  

Look at the bouquets--which I think were not fresh flowers unless the wedding was in the summer or fall.  I'm pretty sure these lush, graceful bouquets were created by the millinery in Buckman or Pierz or Little Falls.   

It's just common sense that business in a hat shop would be sparse--how often do you need a new hat?  But what they also offered was hat trimming--flowers you could use in your wedding bouquet, and then later on your best new hat.

This is my theory an' I'm stickin' to it.

Magdalena Sand & Henry Block

I posted this first pic before, partly cuz I knew and remember grandma's sister Lena and partly cuz I actually had more than one photo of her.  Now, we've discovered two more pics from the "Pictorial Atlas of Morrison County, Minnesota" ☺.  (And yes, this IS my idea of fun!)

Henry Block and Magdalena Sand Wedding  

Added much later, after Minnesota Reflections started publishing the Pierz Journals online:  

COOL, huh?

Funny, I recognize Lena and even Henry, but have no idea who Jeffrey Fischer was!

Ahh, as Larry pointed out in the comments, little Jeffrey Fischer was a great grandson.  Of course!

THANKS, L! ☺

A wedding in Dolni Zdar (Neidermuhl)

We're in the middle of the season's first snowfall.  The roads are decidedly slippery so it's a sign stay home and update YOU, right?

 This week, we were re-tuned to Bohemia because of a DVD recorded in Shamers historic chapel that I forwarded to Su.  That made Larry investigate if there was anything new added online re: our villages of Neidermuhl or Oberschlagles...and wow!  There's a Youtube video of a wedding that took place  in DZ, this fall ☺ (31 August 2011)!

I hope this lovely young couple wouldn't mind if we watch--the ceremony itself isn't recorded--just some kissing, and a little of the crowd.  The chapel and river are shown at the beginning, tho--places Johann and Marya Hesch and their sons Paul, Mathias and Anton would recognize instantly.

LOL...I've watched it often enough now that I think the bride and/or groom could be family.

And wow, there's a second video, showing their reception, in the rain.  Looks like some great food and a terrific  band and some traditional bride/groom activities.  We think Johann and Marya probably fed each other soup and sawed wood together, just like this sweet couple.

We wish them a long happy life together, even if we're not related ☺.

Wedding flowers

Having been a florist for 38 years, I naturally notice flowers in old photos--I can't help it.
With all the Hesch wedding pics posted here on HH, I thought it'd be fun to do a little quiz: can you tell what era each of the boutonnieres below are from? (10 years is an era for this). So, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s....? Bonus points if you name the chest they're pinned on...

Of course, there were some lovely bridal bouquets, but some of our brides wore corsages, and anyway, the flowers below don't correspond to the boutonnieres. Whose bouquets were these, from what 10 year period?
I'm pretty sure they've ALL been posted here in a larger size. The winner will recieve 3 times what dad paid us to help trim the poplars.