A Letter From Pee Paw and Banns in 1952

This post is another one in the series leading up to the 70th anniversary of my parents’ marriage.  I didn’t really think this all out ahead of time, I just post one here and there if something comes up.  I wasn’t planning on writing another one before the anniversary of their wedding, but I ran across these items when I was looking for something else.  I don’t even remember what I was looking for.  I think I may have been looking for a photo to add to a gift for a little cousin’s first birthday party.  I never found the photo I had originally thought of, but I found something appropriate.

But when I found this old letter from exactly 70 years ago today, I knew I would have to include it in this week’s post.  When I first started reading it, I thought that it was from my grandmother Germaine Erie Patureau Landry – better known as Mee Maw.  Most of the letters that were from Lake Charles to my dad – Robert Joseph “Bob” or “Pluto” Landry, Jr. – were from his mother or sisters.  As I read the short little sentences – “Rec’d your letter – glad to hear from you… I was off last week – back to work this morning.” – it was a bit different. 

It also had a few references to ball games – “I wish I could have seen the games on TV… L.C. & Sulphur play on Thanksgiving. McNeese surely has a fine team – they are going places.”  I wondered who had written the letter, but Mee Maw liked to watch baseball and I think other sports as well.  There were also references to family members like Aunt Zim and Mildred who had been having medical issues at the time.  Aunt Zim was doing okay and Mildred was doing better.  “All are well at M. T. and Germaine’s.”  M. T. would have been my dad’s sister Marie Therese.  We knew her as Aunt Marie.  Germaine was his other older sister.

I was still wondering who wrote the letter as I got to the last page.  The handwriting reminds me of my dad’s writing, but I knew the letter was to him.  I was pleasantly surprised when the letter was ended with “Will sign off now.  Love from all to you.  I am your Devoted Father – R. J. Landry”  It was from Pee Paw and I don’t remember ever seeing his writing before.  I should have guessed who it was earlier.  Maybe when he talked about watching a series of games and he said, ” I won $5 from Joe Shimimi.”  I’m not sure of that last name, but he must have been a betting man.  My grandmother never mentioned betting money and she also never talked about the beginning of squirrel season.  My grandfather was a hunter and fisherman.

I had a group of letters that I wasn’t familiar with, so I had to look to see what the other letters were about.  There was a letter from Mee Maw that talked about some of the plans for my parents’ wedding.  Aunt Marie was going to have the wedding cake and reception after the wedding at their house.  While it is an interesting letter to read, I was more excited to see the other side of the letter.  Mee Maw had written the letter on a church bulletin because they had posted the wedding banns for Robert Jos. Landry and Betty Lou Bucklin – mom and dad to me and my siblings.  Their names are on the bottom line on the page.

Wedding banns is an old tradition.  An announcement is read or posted for three weeks in a row at the parish church of the couple intending to get married.  It is to let people know about the approaching marriage and it gives everyone an opportunity to state any objections they have to the marriage.  As my mom would say, “Speak now or forever hold your peaceables.”  When I look through old church documents, I’ve seen wedding banns back in the 18th and 19th centuries.  I don’t know if they still call it that or not.  I just looked it up and I see that the Catholic Church requirement for the banns was removed in 1983, but some places still maintain the tradition.

So Bob and Betty Lou would get married at the Immaculate Conception Church.  It doesn’t give a date, so I guess it wasn’t an open invitation to the wedding.  But it wasn’t far off.  The date quickly approaches.