For this week's Toloff selection we will accompany him to the wedding of Martha Elisabeth Pape and Charles Joseph Bleidt on May 11, 1921. Charles was a widower but this was Martha's first marriage so they pulled out all the stops. And who better to memorialize the day than the premier photographer of the North Shore, J.D. Toloff:
I think it is interesting that in so may of the "posed" photographs of the era there are ferns in the background.
Here's the bride in front of two fern arrangements:
Obviously there was a lot of money spent on this wedding, and everything had to be perfect. J.D. Toloff certainly did his part to make the day unforgettable.
How did things turn out for Charles and Martha? Pretty well, from the looks of it. They had two children: Mary Jane (1924-1965) and John (1929-1973). Charles died in 1959 at the age of 89; Martha died in 1981 at the age of 90.
Special thanks to Amanda Pape and Bill Parker for allowing me to use the Toloff photos of their family for this article. Amanda has a fascinating blog about her family that is a must-read for anyone interested in Evanston history. You can find it at:
http://abt-unk.blogspot.com/
Thanks, Jim, for featuring these photographs. I'm trying to figure out if some other images we have, that don't include Toloff's signature or imprint, might still be his work.
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