Chapter 5 - Marriage

Courtship, Honeymoon and Marriage

In June of 1946, I was released from the navy.  In December I was ordained an Elder, 

and resumed my education at the University of Utah.  I was in somewhat of a dilemma; should I go into the electronics field, since I had been trained in it for over a year while in the navy, or remain in Chemical Engineering.   Many times I have pondered as to whether or not I made the right choice.  My reasoning not to go in electronics at the time included that there had been so many men trained in that field during the war (not only in the Navy but also in the other services) that I thought the electronics field might be overrun by these returning men.  Little did I know that within not many years electronics would literally be included in nearly every product!  Those strange little things called transistors had just being developed; they were relatively unused until the 1950's.  The small integrated circuits (IC's) probably were still the gleam in some inventor’s eye, let alone the tiny microchips that are so commonly used in virtually everything made today.  It is said that hindsight has 20/20 vision, and perhaps had I realized the potential, I could have been on the ground floor of a burgeoning field.  Whatever the reasoning, I decided to stay in Chemical Engineering.  However, as I was registering for the Fall Quarter, I learned about the new School of Pharmacy which was being started.  I had entertained the thought of going into pharmacy at one time in my life, but since the nearest school of pharmacy at that time was in Idaho, I hadn't given it a much thought.   Because of my lack of decision as to what I should do, I jumped at the alternative.  With pharmacy being offered  here, I decided to go for it.

 

Dr. L. David Hiner had been hired as the new Dean for the new School of Pharmacy but he couldn't leave his current position at Ohio State University until the following year.  Because of that, during my first year in the School of Pharmacy, we were all placed under the administration of the School of Medicine, and the courses that were offered that year were almost ludicrous as I look back on them now.  The only "pharmacy" class offered was Pharmaceutical Botany (appropriately taught by Professor Flowers of the Horticultural Department!)  It was really a botany class in which was mentioned (in passing) that some trees and plants were used for drugs and pharmaceuticals!  The other classes we took that quarter were chosen from those for pre‑med students, including chemistry, physics and anatomy!  I had taken English and chemistry classes while in engineering, prior to my service in the Navy, but since it has been two years since I had taken them (and the G.I. Bill was paying for my education, thank you!) I repeated them, even though I had had a passing grade in them previously.  The Veteran's benefits of the G.I. Bill paid for my entire tuition and all my books during the next four years.  This proved to be very valuable to me after my marriage.

 

            After the war my cousin Leo and I resumed our relationship together.  We found another Ford Model‑T, bought it, and again painted it yellow.  We would drive our yellow car to school. One day as we were going home, driving South on 2nd South below the University, we passed a group of girls heading for the bus stop.  I recognized many of them as living in my neighborhood. Chivalrous as we were, we offered them a ride home ‑‑ and they accepted!  I don't know how they all got in the car with us; perhaps I should say "on" the car, as it only had one bench seat (our “car” was actually a pickup truck, without a truck bed.)  Never the less we they all got onboard and, to my amazement, one of them lived right next door to the Yalecrest Ward – my ward!  I learned that this cute girl was Jeanné Baird.  She had moved to 1832 Yalecrest Avenue about 5 or 6 years earlier.  I didn’t recall having ever seen her, but one has to remember that at 17 boys don't often look much at 14 year old girls, which is the age she would have been when I left for the Navy.  What a lovely and beautiful girl that I had never noticed before!!

 

1832 Yalecrest Avenue –as it looked at that time

 

One of my classes that quarter was Biology.  As it turned out, Jeanné was in my class.  That class was taught right after lunch -- she still has the hardest time staying awake after she eats -- and was struggling a bit with the class anyway.    I offered to help with her homework and she accepted.  I don't honestly recall when we started dating.  The first date I remember would have been after her birthday (January 25th) because I was a bit disappointment to learn that she hadn't told me when her birthday was.    I was very impressed with her parents.   Later I told her mother that I fell in love with her -- before I fell in love with Jeannè! 

During February, we went to Great Salt Lake and sat on a blanket on the beach.  Right or wrong, Jeanné blamed the pneumonia she came down with later was because she got chilled that day.  By Easter we were dating pretty steadily.  This is a picture of her in the lovely formal that she wore to a dance we attended at Easter time.

  Even though I hadn't been active in my fraternity after the war, I gave Jeanné my fraternity pin sometime in April or May.  At that time when a boy gave a girl his fraternity pin it was the same as being engaged with a ring.

 

            Jeanné and I would walk to school every day.  It was only about a mile if we cut through the fields.  At that time I was living on Laird Avenue.   My father had a beautiful rose garden along the fence in our backyard.  Each day I would go and select the most beautiful rose bud I could find and take it to Jeanné when I called for her.  Later, when I couldn't find a rose (I guess I had picked them all) I showed up with a daisy!  (She laughed.)  In June, while Jeanné was in bed with pneumonia, I gave her an engagement ring and we set our wedding date for September 15th in the Salt Lake Temple.  I remember coming to visit her in her sickbed.  She would be lying there, holding her ring up in the light to admire it and would smell the gardenia (attached to a long wire) with her other hand.  I had the florist fix the flower that way so she could hold it while lying in bed.  Steve, Jeanné’s brother, left about this time for his mission to France, where he was serving when we were married.

 

Jeannè - 1946

 

We were married 15 September 1947 in the Salt Lake Temple by Robert I. Burton.  The room we were sealed in was at the top of the stairway that leads into the Celestial Room.  (That sealing room was later replaced with an elevator.)  Our wedding breakfast was held on the mezzanine floor of the old Hotel Utah, and our reception was held in the beautiful foyer of the Yalecrest Ward.

 

The year nineteen forty seven was the centennial year of the pioneers entering the Salt Lake valley so there were a lot of celebrations going on associated with that.   Jeannè's father was the piece goods buyer for Z.C.M.I. at the time.  He had designed a beautiful Centennial pattern and had it printed on cotton cloth, for which he received an award. 

As wedding presents we were given matching pajamas, aprons, and a tablecloth and napkins, all made of that beautiful material.

 

             

 

Jeanné’s wedding dress was hand‑made by a seamstress who often did sewing for her dad.  It was made out of beautiful white satin and Chantilly lace, with buttons going all down the back.   Jeanné had six bridesmaids and two flower girls, each with a similarly patterned dress made from pink or turquoise satin.  Our wedding line was beautiful, if I do say so myself.  My brother, Bob, stood as my Best Man.

 

It was a lovely evening until, at the end of the reception, some of  Jeanné 's friends (?) abducted her and took her on a car ride through the city for a couple of hours.  It wasn't a happy few hours for me, but I was pleased to get her back unharmed.  During that time I helped Mom and Dad Baird shuttle all of our wedding gifts over to their house (next door) using a wheelbarrow!  We made quite a haul.  Few have seen more gifts.

 

Following the war there was a severe shortage of housing.  Very little building had gone on during those years and with all of the servicemen returning home it was difficult to find apartments.  My father was acquainted with the couple who had recently purchased the Waldorf Apartments, at 555 East First South, and they were good enough to let us rent an apartment there..  That was in a great location.  Not far from town and close to the University, and the bus went right past it.

 

We spent the first night of our marriage in our new apartment.  I never remember a night as hot in September as that one!  Perhaps it was because of being on the third floor of the apartment house, but we sweltered throughout that night, with very little sleep (and not what you’re thinking.).  The following morning we left for our honeymoon to California.  As his wedding present to us my brother let us borrow the use of his new light green Chevrolet club coupe.  We would not have had much of a honeymoon if it hadn't been for Bob's generosity, as we didn’t own a car at that time.

We drove toward our goal of Las Vegas and I found, before we left the valley, I was too drowsy to drive.  Just prior to our marriage I had the foresight to get Jeanné her driver’s license.  That paid off well.   I soon had to ask her to drive as I was so sleepy I couldn’t keep my eyes on the road.  After an hour or so of rest, I was back at the wheel.  It was a lovely day and we marveled, as we drove through the Nevada desert, how little storm clouds would form here and there.  It was kind of neat when we passed under one of those little clouds – and it rained on us!   

 

                               

         My brother Bob, with his Chevy coupe.  Our own first car, a Ford, is in the background.

 

            We stayed our first night in Las Vegas, Nevada.  As we made our way toward our destination of Los Angeles, about 20 miles out of Barstow, California the transmission on Bob’s car started making a terrible noise.  I jammed the gear shift into 2^nd gear to keep it moving along, and would you believe it?  Just down the road not far from where we were was a gas station with a repair garage.  It was out in the middle of nowhere!  We soon learned that the problem was more than that garage could handle.  The garage had a tow truck with which he towed us into Barstow – at $5.00 a mile – that cost us $100.  Today that doesn’t sound much, but in those days that was a lot of money.   The car was new, and fortunately under warranty, but the Chevrolet Company had to send for a part, which they told us would arrive the next day.  So we found a motel and settled down for the night in the little city of Barstow.  True to their word the new part arrived the following morning and shortly after noon, we were back on our way to Los Angeles where we had reservations at a nice hotel.

 

Can’t recall too much about our stay there, except I remember we visited the LaBrea Tar Pits, one of the world’s most famous fossil localities, recognized for having the largest and most diverse assemblage of extinct Ice Age plants and animals in the world.  We also found a unique restaurant where we ate breakfast.  It was like some of the restaurants found today in Disneyland – all decorated as a rain forest, with birds, etc., and about every fifteen minutes it would rain all around us!  Jeannè’s parents “just happened” to be visiting Los Angeles at that time – I am sure they wanted to make sure I was treating my new wife, and their daughter, okay. . .  But contrary to what many might think, we enjoyed having them with us for a short while, and then they were on their way, we on ours.  

 

We next made our way to Carmel-by-the-Sea, where I had visited so many times while in the navy, studying at Del Monte (see chapter four).  Our hotel room was in Monterey, as it was much less expensive, and it was only two miles away from Carmel.  The night we were in Monterey they were having a celebration and were putting any visitors in “jail” who were not wearing dungarees (Levis.)   Needless to say, Jeannè and I didn’t have any Levis with us, so we were “incarcerated” for a short while in their little jail (made of tree limbs.)  They had a street dance and we joined in the fun.   It added to the fun.  Today you have to pay quite a bit to drive around what is called the 17 mile drive on the Monterey Peninsula, but at that time there was no fee.  It is such a beautiful drive.

 

Jeannè on 17 mile drive on the Monterey Peninsula

 

We had a week for our honeymoon, and with the day off repairing the car, we were very limited on time.  While in Los Angeles we did a little sightseeing, including visiting Sunset Lawn Cemetery, which is filled with many copies of famous statues, such as Michelangelo's “David,” and a copy of  Leonardo da Vinci's “Last Supper .“   After a couple of days in Monterey and Carmel, and we drove on San Francisco where we had reservations at one of the nicest hotels in the city.   Our first night we went to see a movie – a triple feature.   We got out so late that we were afraid our car would be locked up, as it was in a fenced parking lot.  Fortunately, we got it okay.   Ours was the last car left in the lot! 

 

Jeanné looking at statue of David in Forest Lawn Cemetery

 

We visited China Town and stopped there for dinner.  Perhaps I should explain that we developed a love for shrimp cocktails.  I guess we still do!  We had a shrimp cocktail with every meal!  The night we stopped at a Chinese restaurant we had our usual cocktail – it must have been tainted – as that night I had a terrible bout of food poisoning.  Our hotel room had two double beds in it.  I perspired so badly that mid-way through the night we vacated one bed and moved to the other because the bedding was soaked.  You can imagine how we felt the next morning when we left, looking at two beds all ruffled up – and we two young kids on our honeymoon!  I still didn’t feel too well, but we had to move on.  I procured our car and was able to drive us across the Bay Bridge as far as Jeanné’s Uncle Nolan and Aunt Marian’s house.  They lived in Walnut Grove, a small town just adjacent to Oakland.   They were so good to us, and served us breakfast.   I don’t recall eating too much, but I do remember that they commented that if they didn’t know better they would have thought I was pregnant! 

Jeanné, Wally & Marion Thomson in Walnut Grove

 

From there, I had to turn the driving of the car over to Jeanné.  She was a good sport about all of this, even though she was probably scared to death to have to drive in unfamiliar territory.  At that time most highways were just two-lanes wide, and with all the trucks going each way, Jeannè was afraid to pass.  She admitted to me later that she almost ran into a bridge railing one time as she was driving along at 85 miles per hour – and nearly fell to sleep once!  She drove all the way to Lake Tahoe, our next stop on the way home.  I was still pretty much out of it, and brave little 18-year-old Jeanné went down the road in the pitch black with no one around.  (It was in the dark forest!)   She had to find somewhere (she found an open bar!) to purchase some soup for us for dinner. 

 

Fortunately, by the next morning the food poisoning had worn off, and we were on our way again.  We stopped one more time along the way – I don’t remember the name of the little town  – and then arrived back home safe and sound.  Thank goodness!