My maternal grandparents lived 200+ miles away when I was growing up, but I was lucky to spend lots of time with them in spite of the distance.

A recent record popped up that brought back some vivid, fun memories for me.

As my grandparents neared retirement, they began to take some trips for fun and they discovered cruising, which was in its infancy for the middle class.

My family lived in Passaic, New Jersey, which is just a short 15 miles from Manhattan, New York and I was just old enough to really remember a trip that Grandmother and Grandfather out of New York City.

I don’t remember if my grandparents stayed with us- we had very little living space in the house – but I do remember that Mom, my little brother and I drove into Manhattan to wish them a bon voyage. It seems to me that the weather was very cold that day as we walked to the ship.

I also remember that they sailed on the SS Bremen, a North German Lloyd ship and headed to the Caribbean, but I didn’t remember exactly where they were visiting.

Back in those days, visitors were allowed on board the ship and I was mesmerized. The stewards walked the hallways offering caviar – yes, caviar – to everyone. My little brother tried and liked it, but I wasn’t having any of that stuff!

I also remember their cabin was small and I believe it had bunk beds. We spent just enough time on board to have fun and then the captain requested that all guests disembark the ship.

Unfortunately, no one took pictures that day.

I really wanted to go on that cruise and I have vague memories of Grandmother telling me that it cost $100.

However, I couldn’t remember much else about their cruise until this record popped up online, list cropped:

There are my grandparents on the passenger list arriving in New York on 28 January 1961, which means they sailed on 21 January 1961 – a one week cruise.

I checked the weather history. Mid-afternoon temperatures both on departure and arrival days was the same – 19.9 degrees! Very cold!

Grandfather and Grandmother likely had one or two other ports of call, but their last stop was Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Looking up the history of the SS Bremen, I learned that North German Lloyd bought the ship, built in 1929 and originally called the Pasteur, in the 1950s. It was then renamed the SS Bremen.

The ship was tiny by today’s standards, carrying only about 750 passengers, but she was beautiful.

One never knows what kind of record will next pop up, but the number of online images is growing with each day. I always go back to old favorites and look anew. I never expected the SS Bremen passenger list to appear.

Watching my grandparents sail off on their fabulous cruise must have put the cruising bug in me because I have taken many cruises in my adult life.

Grandfather and Grandmother married 96 years ago today in Calais, Maine. I wish I had thought to ask Grandmother about her wedding when I first started working on the family history, but I never did. I have the original news clipping, likely from the Calais Advertiser newspaper, and while it says a lot, it also says so little.

Coleman-Adams Marriage
19 July 1920

I have seen the home on Calais Avenue where my great grandparents lived.

Adams Home on Calais Avenue

I know Mrs. P.E. Chadwick was Aunt Pearl, who loved music and taught piano playing to many students.

I also knew my great grandfather had moved his family to the Boston, Massachusetts area by 1920.  He was working as a tugboat captain in the harbor, so when Hazel married Vernon, they made the trip back to Calais and they married in the Adams family home.

Helen Tarbox and Pauline Stuart were Grandfather’s cousins, Helen from his dad’s side of the family and Pauline from his mom’s. Clara Dwelley was my grandmother’s best friend from high school. I remember meeting her at least once when I was fairly young – maybe about seven or eight years old – at the cottage on Little Sebago Lake while we were there on vacation.

?Clara, blocked by Me on far left
?Clarence Read, her husband, center next to Hazel

The photo above was taken when I was seven, in 1959, and I think the couple on either side of my grandmother might be Clara and her husband, Clarence. They married in 1947 and had no children. I am standing on the left. Clara would be the lady almost hidden behind me. Grandmother was just to the right of me, facing the camera. Clarence would be the man to the right of her.

Back to the wedding announcement – Grandmother’s dress is described in some detail – a gown of white liberty satin and silver lace with a cap shape lace veil “caught” with orange blossoms. How was liberty satin different from plain white satin?  Was her dress floor length or shorter? This was the 1920s and shorter dresses were in vogue.

Did she still have her wedding gown? How about the brown tweed suit she wore when she left on her honeymoon? Did she keep that? I never saw either in my lifetime.

They received some gifts of silver and cut glass – I have none of Grandmother’s cut glass, but I do have a teapot candelabra, sugar and creamer and salt and pepper set. Were those among the wedding presents? If not, what were the gifts and from whom did they receive them?

Finally, they honeymooned in Grand Lake Stream, not far from Calais. My grandfather’s uncle owned a home in Grand Lake Stream. Is that where they stayed?

Lastly, have you noticed one other very common item from weddings that is missing? Yep, a wedding photo. I guess none were taken because I inherited tons of family photos and I don’t ever remember seeing a wedding photo of my grandparents in their home when I visited them.

   
Vernon, c1917 and Hazel, c1917-1920

These are the two photos I have of Vernon and Hazel that are closest to the time of their marriage. I don’t know the occasion for which Grandmother dressed up. She didn’t graduate from high school and it looks like a ring is on her index finger. Was this her wedding gown? It was definitely a dress up occasion, but I have no matching picture of Grandfather.

Happy 96th Anniversary, Grandfather and Grandmother!
We Miss You