MAY 14 ISSUE ANSWERS: This is a wedding gift of Webster and Alice Griffith, married in Ebensburg, Penn., Cambric County on Nov. 28, 1893. This Victorian bride’s basket was a popular wedding gift during the 1890s. This elegant red flashed bowl with ruffled, gold tipped edges, ornate gold metal base to match and complete with cherub and voluminous leaves would have been an elegant and memorable centerpiece on any table. It would have been filled with fruit or sweets. Alice Longly, in the 1950s, recalls her great grandparent’s wedding gift sitting on the buffet in her family’s home filled with artificial fruit. It now rests on the piano in the Bancroft-Stranahan Museum. Thank you Alice for the donation and the many years spent serving the Romeo Historical Society museums. Weddings in the 1890s were generally small intimate affairs held in the bride’s home or churches. The celebration consisted of a dinner or feast, scriptural readings, and dancing. The bride might wear her Sunday best or perhaps a white gown as they were becoming popular, and the outfit was completed with a veil. A larger, day after, breakfast was almost always a part of the wedding celebration. During this time “Thank you notes” to friends and family became very important. It is likely that Alice Griffith would have sent one for her beautiful fruit bowl. The simplicity of the wedding and the gift is refreshing to me. What did your last gift include? I hope much love, whether big gift or small. Joan Beringer Bancroft/Stranahan Curator