Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Dress, wedding |
Category |
Main garment |
Object ID Number |
HCT.1997.33.1 |
Date |
1946-1946 |
Image |
018\HCT1997331-9.JPG |
Description |
Off-white silk parachute wedding dress. Shaped front neckline with upper section curved ending in shallow V at center front. Front bodice with darts from above bust extending to shoulder. Center front seam with five-inch section of full gathers at bust level. Back bodice with shoulder and waistline darts. Thirteen 3/8" diameter self-fabric ball buttons/buttonholes at center back. Left side zipper. Waistline seam. Long set-in sleeves with full gathered cap and more fitted below elbow. Pointed lower edge with two self-fabric ball buttons/buttonholes fasteners at wrist. Eleven gore floor-length skirt, smoothly falling from waistline seam -- no gathers or pleats. Six-seven foot train. Several pieced, flat-felled seams evident in lower skirt and train for effective use of parachute fabric to make garment. Machine stitched hem. Garment totally unlined. |
Label Text |
Gerät Ruckenfallshirm Baumuster: Rofa 12 B Werknummer: 311558 Hauptwerkkontrolle 1 Am: 29 Dez 1942 Anforderungszeichen: FL80246 Tag der Herstellung: 28 Dez 1942 Gewicht: 10kg Hersteller Richard von Kohler u. Sohn G.m.b.H. 4 Feb 1944 2082 31 Jan 1945 F267 |
Notes |
Edwin Morgan was a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne division during WWII. His unit moved through Germany, setting fires in attempt to destroy all supplies and equipment. They found an airplane hangar on fire. Inside the hangar was a plane without a propeller. Edwin took two German parachutes from inside the burning hangar. The parachutes were imprinted with a manufacturer's label that included the Luftwaffe insignia, manufacture date, and other info. At the end of the war, family finances were limited, fabrics were short in supply and wedding gowns were expensive. John Parva, a tailor, made the dress out of the parachute for $18.00. He sewed the German label into the train of the dress. They celebrated their 51 anniversary on Feb. 16,1997. Dress was on exhibit at Columbus Museum of Art's "Objects of Wonder From The Ohio State University" exhibition in 2008(?) The museum made a video of Edwin (Doc) and Betty talking about the dress https://youtu.be/gEFGZ75uP1c |