Rev. 3/7/26 – Add another local Tom Thumb wedding
What kind of fundraiser can you run for elementary school kids? There’s selling candy or books, or school hats or shirts, or discount cards for local businesses, or simply holding a raffle. Instead, it really would be better to have some kind of event involving the kids, but they’re a bit young for a school dance or talent show.
The answer in for Hopewell Elementary School in 1941 was to hold a Tom Thumb Wedding, a theatrical mock marriage performed by the children, with over 100 kids taking part.
This popular tradition of Tom Thumb Weddings involved children dressed in elaborate wedding attire, performing the wedding ceremony plus a reception. It also provided the children with the experience of being part of a performance, and maybe showed them a bit about formal fashion and wedding etiquette.
The idea still was quite popular in New Jersey in the 1940s, including another event in Woodbury the same year, and then more after World War II with Bridgeton (1948), the Trenton Florists’ Association (1948), Mercerville (1948), and Hightstown (1949).
Tom Thumb’s Wedding
As described by NPR, this idea was based on the wedding of the original Tom Thumb in 1863:
“The idea of a Tom Thumb Wedding stems from a real event in the real life of a really, ultra-diminutive 19th century actor, Charles Stratton — whose stage name was Gen. Tom Thumb. Under the management of sideshow impresario P.T. Barnum, Stratton became a national celebrity and a wealthy man.
When he married super-tiny Lavinia Warren in New York in 1863, the little couple received wedding presents from wealthy Americans, including a miniature horse-drawn carriage fashioned by Tiffany & Co. Barnum sold tickets to the wedding reception, historical novelist Melanie Benjamin wrote in the Huffington Post. The newlyweds were invited to the White House by President Abraham Lincoln.”
– The Wondrous World Of Tom Thumb Weddings, NPR 11/15/2014
Stratton toured America starting at age five, in partnership with P. T. Barnum. He was a talented actor, singer, dancer, impersonator, and comedian, and performed as the lead in full-length fairytale melodramas. He became an international celebrity on a three-year European tour, entertaining Queen Victoria and performing in Paris. (See Wikipedia).
Photo: “The Fairy Wedding Party,” with Mr. & Mrs. General Tom Thumb (Charles Stratton and Lavinia Warren), with her sister Miss Minnie Warren, and fellow Barnum entertainer George Washington Morrison Nutt (“Commodore Nutt”). Colored from stereograph photo by Matthew Brady, 1863. (See Wikimedia).
The Hopewell Event
The Tom Thumb Wedding in Hopewell was held on Friday evening, October 24, 1941, in the auditorium of the Hopewell Grammar School (now called the Hopewell Elementary School).
The wedding ceremony was followed by a “picturesque” wedding reception held in the Kindergarten room, with ice cream and cake.
The event was organized by the Parent-Teachers Association to raise money to provide hot lunches for the school children during the winter months.
It was a huge effort including over 100 children: “one of the largest events scheduled for the year.”
The Participants
Miss Bertha I. Scott, principal of the school, was general chairman of the event (see earlier post for more on Miss Scott and her long tenure in the Hopewell school).
Miss Margaret Bond and Mrs. Ruth M. Wort trained the children. The other teachers helped with details of the wedding and the reception, including Mrs. Albert Benson. Mrs. Theodore Houpt, Miss Norma R. Livingston, Miss Velda Thompson, Ed Malesky and Paul Stryker. The P.T.A. parents also helped with the costumes.
Over 20 children participated in the wedding party: Bride. Claire Ann Righter; groom, Teddy Hill; flower girls, Arlette Lewis, Virginia Lewis, Rose Marie Ravello, Barbara Jane Wyckoff; maid of honor, Joan Allen; best man, Dan Pullen; ring bearer, Jimmie Di Iorio; bridesmaids, Betsy Ann Bland, Sally Ann Spurdle, Joan Price, Patty Smith; minister, Louis Heavener; ushers, Clayton Little, John Terrault; soloist, Josephine Sommovigo; bride’s parents, Clarice Allen, Billy Swertfeger; groom’s parents, Martha Schmeiss and Peter Voorhees.
Sixty other kids from the kindergarten and the first three primary grades also took part as wedding guests, to “add to the interest and amusement of the affair by representing the various businesses and professional people of this community.”
The event was reported as a great success in local papers: “Success attended the presentation of the Tom Thumb wedding Friday evening last in the grammar school auditorium, an unusually large audience enthusiastically greeting the juvenile performers. Many business and professional men and townspeople were imitated in a splendid manner.”
Another Tom Thumb Wedding Event
This photo from around the mid-1930s was provided by Rosanne Kolbert Sarnese and illustrates another kind of local Tom Thumb wedding.
Her grandmother, Ethel Holeman McAlinden, used to gather the neighborhood children together and put on little shows for the neighborhood. (See earlier post on Ethel Holeman as a teacher at the Hopewell Grammar School.)
This image shows her mother Eleanora McAlinden Kolbert, and her brother, Joe McAlinden, dressed for the event.
Eleanora reported that these Tom Thumb weddings were a very popular form of entertainment at the time.
- See the McAlinden Family photo album with Skillman / Hopewell images
See also:
- Extensive discussion of the Tom Thumb Wedding tradition, which started in the 1890’s soon after Stratton’s death.
- The Library of Congress has a slice of the wedding cake in its collection, albeit “now dark and moldy.”
Thanks to Virginia Lewis, a participant in the Hopewell event, for explaining this cultural phenomena.
Please contact us if you have other school stories or materials to share.
More on Hopewell Valley Schools
Posts on school materials, including yearbooks, graduation programs, and plays.
- See also post on St. Michael’s Orphanage and School
Browse all School materials in the Image Album and Pamphlet Collection:
- Hopewell Schools History Posters – Hopewell Elementary School at the Harvest Fair
- Images – Hopewell Valley Schools Album – Class photos, classrooms, etc. (search by name, etc.)
- Pamphlets – Hopewell Valley Schools – Yearbooks, commencements, etc. (select by town, name, etc.)
Hopewell Valley Schools – History
- Post on Hopewell School Mascots – and the Frog – School names, mascots and logos
- Post on The Timberlane School Name – The Timberlane Drive development
- Post on Learning Your Letters – School Signs – Princeton High School (1919 / 1920)
- Post on Toll Gate and Hopewell Elementary School Centennials (2026)
Hopewell Borough Schools History – Grammar & High Schools
- Post on Hopewell Elementary School History – Hopewell Schools History posters
- Documents on Hopewell Borough Schools – Briefs and Posters
Hopewell Grammar School (Model Ave.) – 1888 – Posts & Materials
- Post on Model Ave. Grammar School Annex – Jewelry, invention, guitars, metalwork
- Post on c1912 Hopewell Grammar School Kids – Photos on Model Ave.
- Post on 1920s Hopewell Teachers – Scott & Scharring-Hausen
- Brief – Hopewell Grammar School Summary Brief (PDF)
- Brief – Hopewell Grammar School Annex Summary Brief (PDF)
Hopewell Elementary School (Princeton Ave.) – 1926 – Posts & Materials
- Post on the Hopewell Elementary School Centennial – history and additions
- Post on Hopewell Elementary School Class Plaques – 1926-1966 – Photos and names
- Post on 1941 Hopewell Elementary School Newspaper
- Post on 1952 Hopewell Elementary School – Graduation program and yearbook
- Pamphlets – 1956 Hopewell Elementary School “Hi-Lights” Newsletters
- Pamphlets – All Hopewell Elementary School Pamphlets – with yearbooks, graduation programs, newsletters
- Brief – Hopewell Elementary School Summary Brief (PDF)
Pennington Grammar School – Posts & Materials
- Post on 1950s Memories of Pennington – Mike Thomsen – Building evolution
Hopewell High School (Columbia Ave.) – 1910 – Posts & Materials
- Post on The Confusing Hopewell Firehouse – and Boro Hall and High School (1910)
- Post on 1917 Hopewell High School Yearbook – “Blue and Gold”
- Post on 1920s Hopewell High School – Commencement / Class Day books
- Post on 1924 Hopewell High School Program and Ads – Senior class play
- Post on 1927 Hopewell High School Diploma & Autograph Book
- Pamphlets – All Hopewell High School Pamphlets – with yearbooks, graduation programs, diploma
Hopewell Valley Central High School(s) (Pennington) – 1929 / 1958 – Posts & Materials
- Post on 1950s Memories of Pennington – Mike Thomsen – Buildings, school days
- Post on Central High School 1962 Practicum Report – School operations
- Post on Central High School 1961 Student Handbook – Rules & Clubs
- Post on Business Classes at Central High School, c. 1966 – Typing & bookkeeping
- Post on Central High School Class of 1966 – 2016 Reunion Scrapbook – Valley Images
- Post on Central High School Curriculum: 1962 & 1976 – Booklets
- Pamphlets – All Central High School Pamphlets – Yearbooks, graduation programs, curriculum
See also the Document Archive for additional historical school materials.
