Barbara's Wedding plus other stuff

When Icel's oldest daughter Barbara decided to marry Lloyd Gaines,  Icel - ever the talented seamstress - made the wedding gown. Isn't it beautiful?

They were married at Whitworth Presbyterian Church.
(I found this description and photo on this blog: http://churchesonsundays.blogspot.com/2011/05/whitworth-community-presbyterian-church.html)

After World War II area military buildings were sold.  The first one to be bought was by the Presbyterian church meeting on Whitworth College campus. It was the chapel from the Baxter Military Hospital.  "The chapel took two days to move and 75 people helped... only 

one window was broken...Whitworth Chapel was the only church north of the city limits!" 

Tiffany Hall

By 1959 the church had outgrown this building so theirs was probably one of the last weddings to be held there. Barbara had gone to school with the Reverend's daughter. That's funny to me because Ray and I selected our wedding church because went to school with the son of the Reverend who married us.

They also chose this church because Barbara wanted to walk down a center aisle, not a side aisle.

This was back in the strict etiquette days where the design of the dresses and the exact name of the flowers (Esther Reed daisies) were included and all the women who ran the reception were Mrs. William...and Mrs. Melvin...etc.

Lloyd was in the marines and had come home in December 1954 on leave. He brought a ring with him and asked Barbara to marry him.... before he asked her father's permission. 

This is him with his brother/best man Jimmy

He came home from his tour of duty in June 1955 and they married in August. 

Now returning to Icel. At the wedding they learned that Hazel Thompson was Lloyd's sister. Ray and Icel had known Hazel for years. She ran an establishment at Hauser Lake and it was a favorite place of theirs to go dancing. Icel loved to dance and she always, always saved the first and last dance for her beloved Ray. Icel tells me that they also drove to Newport and "Old Town" which was a border town of Idaho. Barbara, being 5 years older than Betty and 13 years older than Beverly always watched the kids when their parents were out.

I love this family photo

 

L to R: Beverly, Ray, Icel, Barbara, Betty

Icel repeats the story very frequently that the "gang" loved to gather at her house on Martin. Everyone brought food and phonograph records and they danced in their socks on the hardwood floor. If anyone (I said if facetiously) had too much to drink Icel always had plenty of blankets because she made them sleep over. She also remembers that people didn't use ash trays. They put their cigarettes out in the dishes they had eaten dinner from. She said "Yuck!" about this memory. Some of the men would put theirs in the cuffs of their pants. Barbara remembers a heart shaped air cleaner from Avon that was kept on the table.