Skip to main content

Thelma Begins Her Household – Wedding Gifts

A wonderful artifact of early marriage life is the wedding book. Besides information about the bridal party and guests, there are pages where gifts are listed and the gift-giver. This is true in Thelma Marie Nilsen Gorrell’s bridal book. She recorded three pages of gifts, who gave it to them, and the date she wrote the thank you note.

She married George J. Gorrell on 6 October 1951 at Westminster Presbyterian Chapel in Sacramento, California. Their reception followed immediately in the patio room. The guests included family, friends, and co-workers (hers and his). It is interesting to see the signatures written in each guests’ own hand.

She was pretty prompt in writing the thank you notes, finishing up about a month later, though some were written in January. Perhaps those gifts came later. They received a lot of linens and decorative items, but their parents gave substantial gifts. Her parents (#20) gave them an automatic toaster and his parents (#14) gave them silver salt and pepper shakers. I wonder if the Betty Crocker Cookbook is the same we now have.


#Women’sHistoryMonth. March is Women’s History Month. This is post one of the women in my ancestry. Some will be direct ancestors, and others sisters, aunts, and cousins. 


Copyright © 2023 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.

Comments