Brenda Franklin
My bridesmaids dress, 1943 Brenda as a bridesmaid at her sister's wedding, standing between the best man and the groom. © Brenda Franklin In 1943 I was a bridesmaid at my sister's wedding at All Saints church. It was during the Second World War and at that time you needed coupons to buy things on ration. My mother wanted to make the dresses for the day but was anxious because she didn't have enough coupons to buy all the net (material) she needed to make the dresses. But she went to the market anyhow and when she found what she wanted, told the stall holder her problem. "Don't say 'owt!" he said and sold her the net there and then, without coupons. But she was still terrified that she would be found out. Later it emerged that she need not have worried because net was not classified as a fabric which needed clothing coupons! From a story told by Brenda Franklin, for the local exhibition "Wedding bells and church spires" in Burngreave Library, March 2005. |