I was procrastinating when a very important thought occured to me: I’ve spent a good portion of time on the internets inquiring about former friends, but I’ve never actually googled my family! Maybe this is because I always know what my family is up to, and therefore it is uninteresting, but I thought I’d give it a go just for fun. Ultimately, it was boring, as no one in my family, save my brother with his old HSBC profile and assorted blogging activities, is googleable! There was one exception--my great-uncle (my grandmother’s brother who, along with his discordant wife, was not the nicest family member). Apparently, his wedding was reported in Time Magazine in 1948! The snippet is thus:
Married. Barbara Jo Walker, 22, Sunday-school-teaching Miss America (1947); and John Vernon Hummel, 24, medical intern; in Memphis. Some 2,000 guests were invited to the wedding; police held back the uninvited, while firemen's searchlights lit the Methodist Church like a Hollywood première.
Many questions follow a discovery such as this: were there really “uninvited” guest clamoring to get inside? It seems highly unlikely to me, but maybe weddings in the 40’s were different that they are today? And who foot the bill for that one? Is there some secret family vault of gold coins (ala Duck Tales) that I’m not privy to? And who submitted this news? The simile of a Hollywood premiere is kind of creepy yet completely in line with my view of rich segregated Southern culture.
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