A wedding dress made from a WWII Air Force parachute has resurfaced at the Lake County Museum in the US state of Illinois as part of an exhibit devoted to World War I. Following the war, nylon was scare in civilian circles, so US Air Force pilot John Smelcer sent the nylon parachute to his fiancée, Carol Kirkpatrick in 1947. Kirkpatrick’s mother designed and made her daughter’s wedding gown, which included a floor-length skirt and lace insets.
After the couple wed, the gown traveled with them all over the world as Smelcer’s assignments with the Air Force took him to Japan, England, and back to the United States. The couple eventually divorced, but Kirkpatrick kept the dress. She died in 2007 at the age of 84, but her family says that she would be thrilled to know that her wedding dress is on display at a museum.
The exhibit, entitled “Keep ‘Em Flying: How the Homefront Helped the Frontlines” is a tribute to the ingenuity and thrift of ordinary citizens during the war and post-war periods. The exhibit also features a post-war wedding dress purchased at a local department store, postcards, civil defence booklets and photographs of the era.
Keywords: Wedding News, Weddingblog, Wedding
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