Mary & Bill - Happy Anniversary

Mary & Bill (my parents)

married September 1, 1945

Bill & Mary

April 1944

London, Ohio

(maybe the green ham visit - see more below)

The following stories come from conversations with Mary and Bill in December 1983 & January 1984. Mary transcribed the taped discussions. Another source is “Recollections” written by Bill in 1985.

How Bill & Mary met

1943 - Mary had graduated from Evanston High School at age 16 and at 17 was a freshman at Northwestern University (July birthday). Bill was also a freshman at Northwestern.

Describing his wartime college experience at Northwestern University – Bill - “The band wasn’t the only organization suffering from manpower shortages; that hit the church choirs, too. I learned that Covenant Methodist Church needed men singers so badly that they would pay people to sing. I was accepted and became a regular member of the choir. That’s when I noticed the beautiful soprano who later be came my wife. After we got acquainted I became a regular at the Floyd’s for weekends so I was getting paid and having my social life taken care of through the same church choir. “

In his writeup of his Navy years, Bill added a bit more information – “One consequence of the war activities was that the church choirs were short men singers. I saw a notice on a bulletin boards offering ‘employment’ at Covenant Methodist Church in North Evanston. I was accepted to sing baritone in Noble Cain’s choir. That’s where I met Mary, who had the prettiest legs in the choir. The rest of that story is well known.”

Mary – “We were singing in the same choir when we met. They (the Navy men) were being paid (to sing). We were not. I had a nice relationship with a couple of guys. Bill was singing in the choir. Didn’t the church people say invite these sailors for dinner? Isn’t that how it started?”

Mary and Bill talked about Mary’s mother Mildred and how she promoted their relationship. About Mildred, Bill said “Obviously a lady of discernment because she was the one that promoted our getting married." Mary related what her mother said – “That is a very nice young man. I’m bringing him home to dinner and you be here. You have a date for Sunday? Cancel it. Such a nice young man.”

Asked how he got Mildred on his side - “She was a person of discernment ?? I think probably I was always more comfortable with older people than with people my own age. I wasn’t consciously trying to make an impression or trying to be nice.” Mary – “You know how 17 year old girls are. Not used to guys who want to spend a lot of time with parents.” Bill – One thing led to another.“

Bill – “Your mother was an awful good cook.” Mary – “Except for the three vegetable salad!” Bill – “She only did that to me once. I happened to be there on a Saturday…” Mary – “On a Saturday – you probably came Friday night!” [Turns out Bill sometimes slept at the Floyd’s apartment.] Mary – “Where did you sleep?” Bill – “In your bed.” Mary – “Where did I sleep? Louise Elworoths [think this is Ellsworth]?” Bill - "You slept on the couch!" Julia asked Bill, “Weren’t you going to school at Northwestern? And you had a dorm room? Why did you stay there?” Bill – “I was invited for the weekend!" Mary – “The campus was almost a mile away!” Julia – “So Gram would invite you?” Mary – “He was such a nice boy!” Bill “Sure! She always had real good food. But the 3 bean…” Mary – “It was macaroni, green beans…” Bill “A whole bunch of stuff that had no place in a salad. I was a clean living boy – I’d never been exposed to things like that. I got exposed once and that was it. Never ever ate it again.”

Here’s a story about food on one of Mary’s trips to London before she and Bill were married – Bill “We always had our ham, butchered on the farm and cured by one of the local freezer plants. Then they’d bring them home in a cotton sack and you’d hang them in a dry place. In our house the best place was the top of the garage. So there were always a couple of these hams in the garage. One time when we were home, before we were married, it was decided we were going to have some ham slices, so Father took the ham down. This ham had already been cut into and the way you kept this thing from drying out was to smear lard over the cut face. With just the natural processes of oxidation it got kind of smelly and looked kind of ... This has been going on for centuries and the way you took care of this little problem was to wash the whole thing with vinegar. That got all the old lard off and the dirt and anything else that was there at the same time. But it didn’t look just exactly like it had come from the butcher shop. So, got this ham out, cooked a slice. I don’t imagine you ate too much of that.” Mary’s response was “I don’t remember. Probably not. Very salty.”

Speaking of the taste, Bill said, “Partly because the hams were very, very strong those days, stronger than they are now. They used a different cure and more salt, because they were kept without refrigeration. Mary was asked if she thought the whole thing was strange and if these people were strange. “I think I’ve always been fairly curious and interested in the way things are done, and done differently. I don’t remember having much more than a “yech” to the meat after it was done. It was explained. But I do remember Father taking the huge knife and scraping the green grease off. But you also knew that with the level of the family they weren’t going to serve you anything poison. But it was really strange.”

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