Almost 100 years later we get a glimpse into what life was like in the Midwest in 1931. We also hear in their own words how Elma Bassemier and Alphons Weinzapfel fell in love and eventually got married.
Elma was born in 1906 on the west side of Evansville, Indiana. She was the oldest of five children, born to Nick and Sophie Bassemier. She was tall and slight, like her father. Elma went to school until the 9th grade and subsequently left to work on the family’s truck farm and help her aunts, Kate and Phine (Josephine), keep house. She met my grandpa when he was visiting his brother, Ed, who lived across the street and down a few houses.
Al was born in 1900 in St. Phillips, Indiana, to Frank and Elizabeth (Soellner) Weinzapfel. Al had eight siblings, so you can imagine that Weinzapfel is a pretty common name in Evansville.
When Al met Elma he was 30 and she was 25. Given that the average age of first marriage for men and women in the United States in 1930 was 24 and 21, respectively, Elma and Al were over the hill when they met and were married.
Here is an undated picture of them before they got married:
