We're two sisters who are craft book publishers and found ourselves in the midst of an avocado grove. We bought this house where we planned to conduct our publishing business and in the deal got 4 acres of avocado trees thrown in. Now we're not only publishers but ranchers as well! This blog is all about avocados and anything else that strikes my fancy.

Friday, June 20, 2014

Sepia Saturday #233 The mystery of the tiny nylon stocking

Two years ago my daughter was visiting from New York and we did our favorite thing, went junk shopping (or should I say antique shopping?). We went to a shabby chic kind of place in Solana Beach, Ca and I found this wonderful treasure that I really wanted. But my daughter in her infinite wisdom said, "don't buy that. What are you going to do with it? You already have enough stuff and I thought you were trying to get rid of stuff."



So against my better judgement I declined the treasure that day.

My daughter left the next day and called me that night to let me know she arrived safely. Her first question was "Did you go back and buy that thing that you wanted?" and I had to reply, "What do you think? I had to, it was just too cute." I heard a big sigh on the other end of the line. She knew me too well.

So see if you agree. Didn't I have to have this?:

This is the tiniest little nylon stocking which is attached with a safety pin to a love letter (which I'll translate later).

Also here is the engagement announcement from The Standard, New Bedford, Mass.

 And to top it off, a wedding photo:


I wish the groom was included in the photo. He was in the Navy, so I'll bet he wore his white navy dress uniform. Maybe one of the flower girls was small enough to wear the tiny nylon stocking! 

Here's the size of the stocking just for your info:

  
And here's the letter which is quite touching. Did he write it to her, or her to him? I think it was from her because of the handwriting.


Translation:
"This is to be saved till next Christmas. Maybe Santa will fill it full of toys? This is also a reminder that after sand and heat you'll be able to look at nylon, smell perfume and hear lovely music. It won't be long darling."

Yes, I definitely think it was written by Helen.  But where did that tiny little stocking come from and what was it? Maybe she worked in the hosiery section of some fancy department store and this was a sample to let you know the shade of the stocking. Or maybe it was a salesman's sample. It's too big to be a stocking for a doll. Maybe it would fit a one legged munchkin. I don't know. Any ideas? 

And isn't it interesting that he was being sent to the Persian Gulf? There were no dates on any of these documents, but from the looks of the photo I think it was the 40s. Can you imagine we were off meddling in the Persian Gulf then? Will things never change?

A little more info about the couple (I couldn't find much). Thomas Kurtz Kline was born in Baltimore on Nov. 10, 1924 and died on June 18, 2006 in Albuquerque, New Mexico and buried in Santa Fe. His parents were John Louis Kline and Alice N. Gonder. Thomas enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1942 and was discharged in 1965. I found nothing about Helen except that she was born in 1924 in New Bedford, Mass.

Let's hope they had a long and happy marriage and that she filled many of his Christmas stockings with many wonderful toys.

For more wedding stories, click here Sepia Saturday.





 










14 comments:

  1. Where do you store/keep this treasure you found? I had a dip into Ancestry and found they married in 1950 and divorced some time after 1966 in San Diego city, I don't have a subscription for US records but some other correspondent might be able to find you more detail especially for Thomas

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    1. Hi,
      I haven't figured out a place to store this treasure. I think it will go in one of my bookcases laying flat. I'm surprised you found more info. We tried and tried and didn't find much. That's disappointing that they got divorced. But that makes sense why the photo etc ended up in San Diego county.
      Nancy

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  2. How wonderful. I love this. The love letter really touched me. Of course you had to rescue it!

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  3. Wow, not sure if my long comment went through! It said it was an error. In short, I think this is such a treasure, and I'll have to google for more, if this was perhaps a common tradition or just an act of love on her part? I'm also wondering if perhaps the toys from Santa coming may mean a child was to be born from their union?

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    1. That's an interesting take on the story - that maybe a child was on the way - but that's a little shocking for those times - since the letter was probably written before the wedding. But actually I'm not sure since nothing in that little group of items was dated.

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  4. A very romantic message from the bride-to-be, as I assume she was then. An amazing find, and maybe some relative will see your post and be able to tell you more about the couple, as did someone who found a relative in a photograph that I posted a few weeks ago. Stranger things have happened!

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    1. That would be so great if some relative could me more info. I'd love to know if they had children.

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  5. What a tiny waist she had and all the attendants had different styles of dress. I’m glad you went back; whilst I sympathise with your daughter, my immediate thought would have been that it would come in handy for a blogpost - and so it did!

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  6. I assume that little stocking & accompanying sentiment, plus wedding photo & newspaper announcement wound up in the antique shop because the wedding unfortunately didn't last. What a shame, but things don't always go as planned. So, will you still keep the stocking & etc.?

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    1. Yes, I will keep the little stocking. But I have no idea what I'll do with it!

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  7. Of course you had to buy it. I hope Megan reads your Sepia Saturday post to see the magic you made with the little trophy. I think you're right about the stocking being a color sample. What a clever use of it!

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    1. I sent the post to Megan, but haven't heard back from her. I think she thinks I'm quite crazy.

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  8. Silk stockings and Cyd Charisse go together for me!
    We are in the process of throwing things away - no silk stockings or letters to go with them though. And you are not crazy no matter what Megan thinks.

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  9. Ok, ok, I'm glad you went back and bought it because this story is really good! But the eternal question remains... what WILL you do with it? And for the record, I don't think you're crazy. You just love to collect odd things, which I secretly love about you. Don't tell anybody! ;)

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