1940- Love and Marriage

That summer, Gary asked Pauline to be his bride. From the looks of this picture, they must have been visiting her family in Jerseyville at the time.

The back of this picture is labeled "Just engaged!"

 A flurry of parties ensued that summer, with congratulations from friends and family.

One party was held with Jerseyville friends and family. Her mother (Mrs. Thomas Allen) and great- aunt (Rose Allen) along with her sisters (Margaret and Helen Allen) sister in law Adah (Mrs Hugh Allen) and cousins (Loretta and Mrs. John Quinn) attended, along with friends and neighbors.

 

Another engagement party was held for Pauline at the Gatesworth Hotel at the entrance to Forest Park, in St. Louis.

 

Apparently Gary and Pauline enjoyed playing bridge, and this was a bridge party. There were 24 guests seated at 6 tables which were decorated with fall flowers. Among the guests were Pauline's neice, Marjorie Rose Allen. Pauline's mother, cousins, and sister-in-law, Adah, also attended, along with other local and hometown friends.

Pauline was a devout catholic, and would have likely attended the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, as it was just a short distance from her apartment. This beautiful church was completed in 1914, and was famous for its architecture and mosaics.

Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis

Tour of Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis 

However Gary was a protestant. In those days, this presented a problem. They could not have a catholic ceremony in the church. So they were married in the church rectory on September 23, 1940.

Here are the "before" and "after photos- carefully labeled by my mother!

Gary Garrison and Pauline Allen in front of her home in Jerseyville before the wedding

Mr. and Mrs. L.E. Garrison after their wedding 

An Article in the Alton Evening Telegraph on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 1940, described the wedding...

Jerseyville- The Marriage of Miss Pauline Allen of St. Louis, formerly of this city, and Lewis Elgin Garrison of St. Louis was solemnized at 4 o'clock Monday afternoon, September 23, in the rectory of St. Louis Cathedral.  The Rev. Father J. Cowan officiated.
    Miss Helen Allen of Alton, sister of the bride, served as her bridesmaid and Quintin Peckel of Tulsa, Okla., was attendant for the groom.
    Following the wedding the immediated relatives of the couple attended a dinner served the bridal party at the Forest Park hotel in St. Louis, after which Mr. and Mrs. Garrison left on a wedding trip. On their return to St. Louis they will be at home in the Gatesworth hotel, St. Louis, until Nov. 1 when they will go to New York to reside.
    Mrs. Garrison is the youngest daughter of Mrs. Thomas Allen of Jerseyville. She is a graduate of the Jersey Township High School and for some time has held a secretarial position with the Sampson Distributing Co., in St. Louis.
    The groom is a son of Mr. and Mrs. William Garrison of Enid, Okla. He is a graduate of Oklahoma A. & M. College. For some time he has been the employee of Shell Oil Co., in St. Louis, but will be transferred Nov. 1 to New York.
    Those from here attending the wedding Monday were: Mrs. Thomas Allen, Acquinas Allen, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Allen, Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Allen and Miss Rose Allen of Jerseyville, and the Misses Helen and Margaret Allen, Alton.

Gary and Pauline would have just a few weeks in the Gateway Hotel in Saint Louis before their move to New York City.

Late 1930's - the Girl Next Door- Pauline Allen

"Gary" had fallen in love with the girl next door.

Pauline Garrison 1935

Pauline came from Jerseyville, Illinois, a farming community about 20 miles north of Alton.

She was the youngest of 7 children, with 3 older brothers and 3 older sisters. Her mother, Nellie Quinn Allen, was a 60 year old widow in 1940; Pauline's father, Thomas Allen had died in 1933, when Pauine was still in high school. Her brothers Hugh and Kin were now working the family farm.  

Pauline had grown up surrounded by a large and close-knit family.  Her grandparents had been immigrants from Ireland and Pauline grew up among numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins who owned adjoining farms. The farms were prosperous; my mother said she never really knew there was a depression; they always had plenty of food and she was never aware of any hardships. 

One of her favorite stories was that one Christmas morning before going to church they were allowed to open a present and hers was "galoshes" (rubber boots.) She was mad all through church, and then found out afterward it was a joke; she had plenty of other presents waiting when they returned home.

Pauline and high school friends

Pauline may have had an occasional bout of Irish temper but she had a sunny disposition- she was bright, cheerful, and full of fun.  She was popular in school and was vice president of her high school class as a junior.

Pauline Allen, the girl in the center

 After graduating from high school she had attended secretarial college and then moved away from home to make a career in nearby St. Louis, rooming with her friend Edna.