Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Vintage Thingie Thursday: Vintage Parachute Wedding Dress

Welcome everyone to Vintage Thingies Thursday. If you have a love for vintage things, well....you have come to the right place. We have a "dog-gone" good time each and every week!!!
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read and follow the instructions for participating in Vintage Thingies Thursday, click HERE. I try and keep things fairly simple, so  please make sure you follow the instructions. Please only ONE link per week.  

I usually don't show things here on Vintage Thingie Thursday that you would not find inside my home. But this week I came across this amazing wedding dress while visiting Pinterest that I had to share it here. It has the most sweetest and romantic story and really thought you might enjoy it too. I love the dress, style and story of how this came to be. Truly amazing.


Description:

White; made from parachute; fitted bodice with left side metal zipper; shirred at center front from waist to bust; shirred at side seams at bust; net yoke inset that also forms upper portion of sleeves; opening in yoke at center back, fastened with eight buttons and loops; wide ruffle of lace and net sewn to bottom of yoke; two darts in back bodice; long sleeves; skirt portion of eight panels of parachute; parachute cord in casings placed vertically and drawn up to form poufs; cords pulled up to make skirt shorter in front and create train in back; skirt lightly gathered onto bodice; parachute cord casings, without cords, used as decorative band around bottom of skirt.


Background:

This wedding dress was made from a nylon parachute that saved the groom's life during World War II. Maj. Claude Hensinger, a B-29 pilot, and his crew, were returning from a bombing raid over Yowata, Japan, in August 1944 when their engine caught fire. The crew was forced to bail out. It was night and Major Hensinger landed on some rocks and suffered some minor injuries. During the night he used the parachute both as a pillow and a blanket. In the morning the crew was able to reassemble and were taken in by some friendly Chinese. He kept the parachute and used it as a way to propose to Ruth in 1947. He presented it to her and suggested she make a gown out of it for their wedding.

She wondered how she was going to make "this voluminuous item" into a dress. Seeing a dress in a store window that was based on one that appeared in the movie Gone with the Wind, she patterned her dress after that. She hired a local seamstress, Hilda Buck, to make the bodice and veil. She made the skirt herself; she pulled up the strings on the parachute so that the dress would be shorter in the front and have a train in the back. The couple were married in the Neffs Lutheran Church in Neffs, Pennslyvania, July 19, 1947. Their daughter and their son's bride also wore the dress for their weddings. It was then gifted to the Smithsonian. This item is one of 137 million artifacts, works of art and specimens in the Smithsonian’s collection. It is not on display. To see original source click HERE.

I hope you enjoyed having a peak at this dress and reading the most romantic story behind it! I know I sure did. Have a wonderful weekend!!!


20 comments:

  1. What a great story...I love to hear about WWII love stories. Makes me think of my Mom and Dad who got married 8/10/47!

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  2. What a beautiful, beautiful story. I would've loved to have been at the wedding. I sew a little bit but I can't imagine turning a parachute into a wedding dress. That seamstress (Hilda Buck) definitely had a God given gift. Thanks for sharing and for hosting Vintage Thingie Thursday

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  3. Oh Suzanne ~ that's such a wonderful story. I never heard it before and now I want to share it with everyone. Thank you for a great post and for hosting too!

    Hugs,
    Susan and Bentley

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  4. Suzanne, I love this "war love story". My Dad was in WWII and my parents were married in 1946. This dress is glamorous, can't believe looking at it that it was a parachutte.
    Ann

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  5. lovely story.I haven't heard it before.Thanks for ur comments in my blog

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  6. I had heard the story, but had not ever seen the dress. It IS beautiful!
    Thanks for sharing! Happy VTT!

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  7. This is so romantic. I just might cry.

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  8. That is a beautiful story behind this gorgeous dress...so interesting to know the history of it :) I'll have to admit that I couldn't help but think of the Lincoln Drape pattern of glass when I first looked at the gown though...it just reminded me of it....very pretty.

    Thanks for hosting...I'm off to visit the other participants at your party :)
    Have a fun day...
    Queenie

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  9. Fantastic parachute wedding dress and great story. Thanks for sharing.

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  10. During that time frame, LOVE had a different meaning than today.

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  11. Love the wedding dress it is so beautiful!! Thanks for posting about it

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  12. That is a pretty dress and a great story to go along with it. Thank You for hosting today.....Julian

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  13. Suzanne, OH MY GOSH, I just noticed on your sidebar the temp in Hartzell, CO right now------55 degrees-we were just there last week. It's going to be another 100 degree day.
    Ann

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  14. Thanks for sharing such a sweet story and for hosting the party!!!

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  15. Amazing dress and such a great story that goes with it!! Wow! Thanks for sharing!

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  16. Truly an amazing story. To think a bride to be could take this fabric and make a beautiful wedding dress is a story too. Thanks for sharing this remarkable story. Thanks for hosting your party.

    ~Emily
    The French Hutch

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  17. Oh wow....what an awesome story.

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  18. What an amazing and meaningful dress!!! I hope they rotate their displays from time to time, so that the public can see it every so often.

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  19. Wow this is just the most wonderful, romantic story I had read in a long time! Love the fact the the daughter's wore this dress too! Thank you for sharing such a great story and piece of history!
    Terry
    PS hope you are feeling better!

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  20. That was one incredible story. I am amazed at the romantic story during warttime but sometime those are the very best stories. Are you in Texas or Colorado these days? Someday I am going to figure out a way to meet you.

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Sometimes someone says something really small, and it's like it fits into this empty space in your heart!

Thank you for stopping by and leaving your thoughts here, they really mean a lot to me!

Suzanne

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