Marty's Christening was in the early summer of 1951. Look, there he is, the cutest Mr. Magoo ever, obviously, in the lap of his great-grandmother Victoria Zdrojewska. To their left are his grandparents, John and Eleanor. To their right are his great-grandfather Ludwig and Dad, our EJZ. Directly behind them is his Mom, our CAMZ, with corsage.
Marty's Christening gown has ruffles in plenty, as well as blue ribbons; you can see blue ribbon on Great-grandmother Victoria's lap, right next to the gown.
What a fine day! They photographed 4 generations of Zdrojewski gents.
Marty's Christening gown has ruffles in plenty, as well as blue ribbons; you can see blue ribbon on Great-grandmother Victoria's lap, right next to the gown.
What a fine day! They photographed 4 generations of Zdrojewski gents.
Clara made that Christening gown. After the big day, she packed it up in a box, labeled it, and put it away. It stayed put away for more than 60 years.
Marty last summer brought it over here to the Historical Preservation Society HQ, where I've finally brought it into the photographic studio so we can take a look at it. You ready?
The overdress of gauzy material, ornamented, is worn over a plain, sleeveless undergown of white satin.
A piece of white satin gives shine and substance to the upper part of the overgown yoke; lace borders that part, as well as the collar and cuffs. White satin bows attach the satin ribbon streamers, two blue and two white, on each side.
Now let's examine the gauzy overdress by itself, followed by a few details.
Clara handstitched lace to satin collar band.
The satin underdress is collarless and sleeveless, with plain yoke and a couple of buttons at the back. Both pieces have a great big vertical slit in the back, for uninstalling and reinstalling Marty in greatest possible comfort to him as well as ease to the installer. That is way better than having to draw both long garments over his head. I hope you are grateful for that considerate detail, Marty.
The box has a top of heavy, textured paper; it is dirty and uncleanable from sitting in attics all those decades. But not only did it keep the gown quite clean, it also is the original box, which is something, and to top that off, it is labeled in Mom's handwriting. So we keep the gown in its box.
I've had it hanging around here for a few weeks, so now I am going to miss the sight of it. Come visit me here at Hx HQ and we can get it out again to give it more study and admiration.
2 comments:
Ah yes ... I remember that day;
The car ride was good and bad.
It was bad due to that dang cigar smoke; good thing Dad rolled the windows down a bit.
It was good because Moms milk dispenser was never more than 18 inches away; left side was my favorite.
Which reminds me - I had a nightmare one night of a time when kids my age would be strapped in a container and secured to the back seat - lightyears away from Mom.. Horrible. I woke up in a cold sweat.
OK, so, I went along with the gown thing because, well, Mom was runnin' the show and at that point, I was startin' to kinda like her.
I was hoping for a white shirt and tie like the rest of the guys; but I supposed this was some kind of hazing ritual I had to go through to get into the Family.
Church was definitely cool.
I loved the smell.
This may seem trivial, but does Holy Water HAVE to be at 65 degrees??
Anybody ever tell you that I was at 99 degrees??
Like - do the math!!
The ride home was great though;
I got the left side for a solid 10 minutes !!
Hey Marty, thanks for all the memories. Nothing like a first-hand report from the principal character in the events!
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