Sepia Saturday 721. W is for W is for Washington, DC, honeymoon in 1948. No. 22 of 26 posts in the April 2024 Blogging From #AtoZChallenge. Theme, My Life: The Prequel (in Snapshots) — adding my parents’ story to the family history mix. Please join me on the journey.
In April 1948, my parents Norm and Peg (Laurence) Charboneau got engaged in New Jersey.
In November 1948, they got married in Gloversville, N.Y. — Mom’s hometown — then headed out for their honeymoon.
According to the wedding write-up in the Gloversville paper, “Later the couple left by plane for New York and Washington.” Not a lot of detail, but let’s examine this brief sum-up.
First flight together
I was surprised to read that my parents flew to New York City for the first leg of their honeymoon, since they were normally train travelers. However, commercial aviation had picked up after WWII — and it was their honeymoon after all — so it appears they splurged on the flight.
The nearest large airport was in Albany, N.Y., so I’m guessing that’s where they flew out of. Dad had likely flown before, since he’d been moved around the U.S. for WWII Navy training before setting sail in the Pacific. But the honeymoon flight may have been my mom’s first.
Checking into the Mayflower Hotel
I don’t know where Mom and Dad stayed in New York City. However, my mom let slip that they stayed in the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.
The stately hotel on Connecticut Ave. was conveniently located for seeing all the sights — and decades later it had a family history connection, too.
In the late 1990s, I lived and worked in Washington, D.C., within walking distance of the Mayflower Hotel. I had just gotten started doing genealogy research when Mom told me she and Dad honeymooned there.
So, one lunch hour I stopped by in hopes they might have records of my parents’ stay. Alas, they didn’t — but they did give me a copy of a coffee-table book about the hotel’s history, which I later presented as a memento to my parents.
Honeymoon memories
After the honeymoon, my newlywed parents moved into their shared apartment and returned to their jobs in New Jersey. But small souvenirs of their New York-Washington honeymoon trip lasted for years into their marriage.
In the first photo above, my dad has a small toiletries bag in his right hand — which I remember turning into a “doctor kit” and bringing to school for show-and-tell in first grade.
Then there was the Chianti bottle with a straw base and multi-colored candle wax melted onto it — which sat for years on our family’s living-room shelf. According to Mom, that was also from their honeymoon — a beloved souvenir of an Italian dinner together.
Thus my parents began their lives together — but soon they started to miss home and family. So before long, Mom and Dad decided to return to New York State, as you will read in the next post.
Up next, X is for X-celsior bound: My parents move back to New York State. Please stop back! Meanwhile, please visit this week’s other intrepid bloggers over at Sepia Saturday.
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