E is for Easter Bonnets, 1963

Theme ~ My 50 Years in America 

I have a lovely memory of a country drive on Easter Sunday 1963. I was new to Princeton and had made friends with a British guy named Phil, an architect who loved to act and did so with the Princeton Community Players, I think they were called. On Easter Sunday, he picked me up and we decided to go for a drive around the New Jersey country side. It was a beautiful spring day, leaves on the many tall trees were coming to life, birds were singing their spring songs, and church bells were ringing in the small towns we as we drove by. 

We stopped outside a church and looked in amazement at the ladies who were leaving their parked cars and walking toward the church entrance. Oh, the hats! 

Of course we were both familiar with the Irving Berlin song about the bonnets in the Easter Parade, but we had no idea that women dressed up like this on Easter Sunday. What we saw was fantastic! Remember this was New Jersey, where everywhere, except in Princeton, people are prone to big lives, big gestures, big meals, and as I found out that day, big hats. 

So there we were: Phil, a British Jew, I a Swedish Lutheran (a rather sedate church that I never attended), enjoying the sight of the many women entering the church. So we looked at each other, and at the same time decided we would join the service, which, as it turned out, was far from sedate.

I still remember that day so fondly: The small Jersey towns, the tall trees, the white churches, bells ringing, and the hats.

Source: Photos ~ Wikipedia, Google

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Mary Rack: If you read this, I tried to leave a comment on your blog yesterday, but got a message that you have not made your blog accessible to others. This is probably why no one has been able to leave a comment. To fix: Go to Settings, Posts and Comments, Who can comment, and make a selection. I chose Registered Users. And at the bottom the Basic page, make sure Blog Readers is set at Anybody, or whatever selection you prefer, just leave it accessible. Hope this helps you get a lot of comments.