Recently, I was talking with my Dad (Bob) and he pointed out that both Hugo & Theresa, and Armand & Carmel got married on a Monday morning.
Monday morning? Really? I went and looked at the invitations for each of their weddings. Absolutely. Monday morning. I can't remember one wedding I've ever been to on a Monday morning, let alone two weddings of people in the same family, BOTH getting married on a Monday morning! My Dad explained why, and it makes a lot of sense. As you can imagine, after World War II churches were in great demand because returning soldiers and their fiancés were itching to get married and get on with their lives. With so many soldiers back from the war at the same time, the churches were overbooked. It was so impossible to get a weekend that couples resorted to weekdays, they were even happy to snatch up an inconvenient Monday morning! Below, you'll find the unique invitation to Carmel & Armand's wedding, and their marriage certificate. Enjoy! Click on "comments" above to add your thoughts and/or memories!
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This week, I found a couple of newspaper articles with a great shot of Hugo enjoying an ear of corn at the Glue Pot Club outing in 1957. What is the Glue Pot Club and how did they get their name? A glue pot, also known as a sticky wicket or glue dog, is a metaphor for a difficult circumstance. It's origins lie in the game of Cricket, where difficulty hitting the ball can be caused by damp and muddy ground. The Glue Pot Club, according to the article, was "Fair Haven's largest social club", a club formed by Fair Haven "sportsmen". This might explain the reason for choosing the name "Glue Pot". Hugo was the General Chairman. I've attached the newspaper page, with magnifications of the relevant articles from July 21, 1957, and December 21, 1956 below. Enjoy! Click on "comments" above to add your thoughts and/or memories! A New Haven directory from 1914 I found while looking around online, listing Giovanni as the Secretary of Fratellanza Italiana and G. Garibaldi Society. If you click here, you'll find a link to an article from the Wethersfield Historical Society posted on May 4, 2011 entitled "The Story of Connecticut's Italians". It lists these two societies among more than 80 organizations devoted to bringing together Italian immigrants, stating; "They took it upon themselves to project the face of their communities by reporting uplifting news coming out of Italian neighborhoods. Italian newspapers inundated their pages with noteworthy events that associations organized including all-night banquets, music concerts, festas, christenings, marriages, and Columbus Day celebrations." Someday soon I plan on tracking down those Italian newspapers. Stay tuned... Click on "comments" above to add your thoughts and/or memories. Antonetta had lived for many years in New Haven and was 61 before she became a naturalized citizen of the US. This document comes from the U.S. Naturalization Record Indexes from 1791-1992.
It is likely that Giovanni was never naturalized. This is a good thing, because any of us can claim Italian citizenship through his side if we are able to scrape up a couple of missing documents. Quite an exciting possibility! Click on "comments" above to add your thoughts and/or memories. |