17 November 2011

Sepia Saturday 101: The Honeymoon Hitch

Amaryllis 'Mern' Hopkins, February 1952

There is something enticing about vintage cars especially when filled with intriguing passengers - in this case, my mother sporting a walking cast. (Every time I see this photo I have to wonder if my mother actually drove the car with that cast!)

Amaryllis 'Mern' (Hopkins) Warwick
Chester Arthur Warwick
ca 1953


My mother and father were avid skiers. I suspect their wedding date was chosen with the spring skiing season in mind. But fate would put a hitch in their honeymoon plans - at least the skiing part. My mother broke her ankle shortly before her wedding day.  She actually walked down the aisle wearing the cast so prominently displayed in the photograph above. There are no wedding pictures commemorating her hobble down the aisle, making this picture even more precious. Mom always related her wedding story with a smile as broad and infectious as the one in the photograph.

Mern Warwick, March 1952, Honeymoon













For more posts inspired by the photograph below, see Sepia Saturday 101.
 



27 comments:

  1. Well if that car wasn't didn't have an automatic transmission I'm guessing hitting the clutch with that cast was an adventure.

    Wonderful photos with a great story.

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  2. Nice photos. Your mother doesn't seem to be bothered by the cast. She probably would have let the man drive anyway.

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  3. Your mom certainly took her injury in stride! So, ... did they honeymoon at a ski resort?

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  4. Tattered, I had the same thought! I doubt it was an automatic. My Dad didn't acquiesce and get an automatic until the 70s and then only because it was Mustang. :)

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  5. Great story. Enough to make anyone get plastered.

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  6. Postcardy, I think my mother thought is was a hoot even at the time. She was very athletic so I doubt the cast slowed her down much.

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  7. Oh Bob! Now that is too good! Great pun - you must be a fan of Nabokov's "Pnin."

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  8. Mary, The last photo was taken on their honeymoon near/in Idaho Falls, Colorado. Ski resorts as they are thought of today weren't all that common then. They probably did exist but we have always been more of a 'small cabin in the woods' type family.

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  9. Oops! What a way to begin, right? Fabulous photos and story too! I just love reading these old stories.....such a life back in the days....

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  10. Your mother looks like such a lively, fun person. I wonder if she used her cast as a guestbook at her wedding with everyone signing their good wishes.
    Nancy Javier
    http://ladiesofthegrove.blogspot.com/

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  11. What great memories to share of your parents wedding day. Thank you for your blog and for following me click here

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  12. Your Mum looks like she wouldn't have been defeated by a plaster cast when it came to driving! Good for her :-) Jo

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  13. Your mother looks as if nothing much ever stopped her from enjoying life. How very admirable. I never heard Amaryllis used as a first name, but I love it.

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  14. Neat story, the early days of recreation seem so simple and rustic now.

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  15. Nancy, I'd never thought of people signing the cast. I'll have to ask my Dad!

    Christine, I love the name Amaryllis but my mother wasn't so fond of it. She always thought my youngest was lucky to be a boy - had he been a girl, he would have been names Amaryllis Marita!

    Mike, sometimes I wonder where we went wrong. Shouldn't recreations be simple? Give me a rope tow or a T-bar over a chair lift any day! :)

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  16. Your mother must have be a great sport in every sense, she looks far from unhappy doesn't she. Wonderful photos.

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  17. Your Mom certainly knew how to put adversity aside! Looks like the cast is a mere inconvenience. Photos of hobbling down that aisle would have been a great addition to your collection. Ditto, have never heard of Amaryllis as a person's name....

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  18. What a shame about the lack of wedding photographs. With Photoshop techniques these days it would be possible to get rid of the cast : but I think the cast and the smile make a smashing story.

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  19. It took me a while to realise the car had been "decorated". I thought at first it was snow.

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  20. thank you for sharing your family stories, wonderful things to pass down, not only to family but now with all of us! :)

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  21. happy people., from the look of it. pretty hard to be low key though when your car is a testimony to your recent wedding...

    Do people still do that?
    :D~
    HUGZ

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  22. I wonder If Your Mum had a ceremony when the cast came off?!

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  23. Pat, Alan
    Ironically, I think my mom was more upset about the lack of photos than the cast! Something happened at the time that caused the missing photos.
    Liz

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  24. Sheila and Ticklebear,
    You mean not every country has the car decoration tradition?! Great fun. Usually there are cans and old boots tied to the bumper as well.
    Liz

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  25. Tony,
    No later ceremony. But, definitely many, many more 'honeymoon' ski trips.
    Liz

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  26. i put this in the same class as parading the groom-to-be in a pick up truck, half naked and covered with molasse, flour and feathers...

    Some folks still do that but not as often as when I was a kid.

    Maybe I lack a sense of humor...
    :/~
    HUGZ

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Comments welcome!