My future sister-in-law and my mother and I went to Omaha to buy our wedding dresses. Rose and I were both married in 1935, during the depression era. I bought a white satin gown for $12.50. I already had a pair of white shoes to go with it. I sewed a long slip to wear with the gown. I did not buy a veil because we were watching every penny. A bridal shower brought many useful wedding gifts. They included towels, tablecloths, rolling pin, water bucket and dipper. Also were dishes, pans, and a wash basin which were useful as there were no homes with running water.
My parents furnished me with a Sears rotary sewing machine, bedroom and dining room furniture, a gasoline powered washing machine and a quick meal stove that burned wood and cobs.
Later my husband’s parents gave us 60 white hens. My parents gave us 100 baby chicks and an oil burning brooder stove, and four young Holstein cows.
We somehow survived five more years of drought.
Ella Travnicek
Cedar Bluffs, Nebraska
Back in 1955 a call went out from the editors of the then Capper’s Weekly asking for readers to send in articles on true pioneers. Hundreds of letters came pouring in from early settlers and their children, many now in their 80s and 90s, and from grandchildren of settlers, all with tales to tell. So many articles were received that a decision was made to create a book, and in 1956, the first My Folks title – My Folks Came in a Covered Wagon – hit the shelves. Nine other books have since been published in the My Folks series, all filled to the brim with true tales from Capper’s readers, and we are proud to make those stories available to our growing online community.
