Related by Marriage: Anticipation

New Buffalo, Michigan, about 1974. Mr. Irene's Dad is ready for the beach.

Related by Marriage: The Back Steps

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, Spring 1957. Mr. Irene's Mom is ready to walk toward the Bel-Aire.

Related by Marriage: Park the car and walk around.

Near Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, Spring 1957. Mr. Irene's Mom steps out of the Bel-Aire and finds the peony bush.

Related by Marriage: A Drive to the Suburbs

Suburban Chicago, Spring 1963. Mr. Irene's Mom wrote on the back of this photo, "A visit from Grandma and Aunt Petra with the Chevy Bel Aire."

Classic Reunion

 
Madison, Wisconsin, July 2013. Priuses occupy many of the spaces in my workplace garage. It was refreshing to see this Chevy in that "Prius for Everyone" environment.

Related by Marriage: A Chicago Guy

Chicago, Illinois, 1958. It's hard to tell from this photo that Mr. Irene's Dad had emigrated from a DP camp and arrived in Chicago only nine years earlier. Those two years in the Army did a lot to speed up his assimilation to American culture.

 

Here's a family joke: both my Mom and Mr. Irene's Dad still speak accented English. Our families all now live in Wisconsin. When people ask Mom or Mr. Irene's Dad, "Where are you from?" both usually just say, "Chicago."

 

Related by Marriage: We're going to the church.

Marquette Park, Chicago, Illinois, January 1958. Mr. Irene's Mom steps into the car for the drive to her wedding. From left to right: Mr. Irene's maternal Aunt Martha, another bridesmaid, Mr. Irene's maternal Grandmother Anna, Mr. Irene's Mom—the bride, and Grandfather Stanley. 

Grandmother Anna wear a beaver coat.

Related by Marriage: The First Car

Marquette Park, Chicago, Illinois, October 1957. Mr. Irene's Dad stands next to his new car, a 1956 Chevy Bel-Aire.

Moms Who Drove

Marquette Park, Chicago, Illinois, Winter 1958. Many 1950s- and 1960s-stay-at-home Moms did not drive. It was not uncommon for women to wait for their husbands to chauffeur them around on weekends to the grocery store and other house-related destinations. Mr. Irene's Dad walked to work, so his Mom had the car available to her during the workday. Unlike her sister Martha, Mr. Irene's Mom learned to drive. My Mom also drove because she worked, and she often headed off to house calls during the night.

I thought it was strange that some woman could not drive. Imagine not being able to drive and living in the suburbs, with no shops, libraries, or cafés within walking distance.

Related by Marriage: Newlywed

Marquette Park, Chicago, Illinois, late Autumn/early Winter 1958. Mr. Irene's Mom stands next to the car she and Mr. Irene's Dad bought shortly after they married.

Related by Marriage: We have a Chevy.

Marquette Park, Chicago, Illinois, Summer 1959. Mr. Irene's Parents stand curbside with their 1956 Chevy Bel-Aire. They've likely just finished a Sunday visit with Mr. Irene's maternal Grandparents, Anna and Stanley.

Thanks to Mr. Irene's Los Angeles cousin for making this photo available to us.

Related by Marriage: Write down what you think is important.

A few years ago, Mr. Irene asked his Mom to gather the historical family photos in an album. My Mother-in-law pasted the photos onto the album's black pages. She used a silver scrapbooking pen to number each album page, and she assigned a letter to each photo.

Mr. Irene had suggested that his Mom provide the location, date, and a short explanation or story about each photo. She wrote the photo annotations in a simple, black spiral notebook. It's easy to follow the explanations in the notebooks, and most of them provide clues about why Mr. Irene's Mom thought the photo merited inclusion in the album. For example, one of the picnic culture posts derives largely from her notebook entry for that photo.

I noticed that the album carefully records the family's history of auto ownership. There's a photo of Mr. Irene, from the late 1970s, standing next to his Grandfather Stanley's last car, a 1969, teal Plymouth Valiant. Mr. Irene's Mom noted that it was significant that Mr. Irene drove that Valiant after Stanley died. 

You can get a taste of the importance my Mother-in-law attributed to the cars here and here and here.

When I came across this adorable photo of Mr. Irene and his Mom, standing in front of their house, I anticipated that a cute story might accompany the image.

In the notebook, my Mother-in-law wrote, "1956 Chevy—Bel Aire." And that's all she wrote.

Suburban Chicago, March 1963. Mr. Irene and his Mom stand in front of the family car. Look! That might be my Mom's turquoise Ford Customline behind them.

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Suburban Chicago, Summer 1977. Mr. Irene sits on the hood of Stanley's Plymouth Valiant. He's in the alley behind his house.

Mr. Irene and I went on a date in that very car in March 1977—to "Dingbat's," a disco in downtown Chicago—and the car wouldn't start when we set out for home. So there I was, on Michigan Avenue, knowing that my strict Parents would spit bullets if I missed my 11:00 pm curfew.

Related by Marriage: The Wedding Day

Here's Mr. Irene's Mom, in the front seat of a 1957 Chevy, on her way to the Church to get married.

Marquette Park, Chicago, Illinois, January 1958. Mr. Irene's maternal Grandfather, Stanley, holds the back-seat door for his wife, Mr. Irene's maternal Grandmother, Anna.