Contributed by Maine Historical Society
- Item 105709
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Description
A long ivory rayon satin wedding gown, with a high neckline and white lace inserts at the waist. The dress was worn by Bessie Rodis (1914-2001) at her January 23, 1938 marriage to Peter Spanos (1906-1997). The couple married at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Portland.
The dress includes puffed sleeves and a rayon lace insert below each elbow. Twenty five small white covered buttons, probably wood, run down the back of the dress. A long train of both lace and a rayon satin insert add texture to the back of the dress.
Bessie (Rodis) Spanos, born in New Hampshire, married Peter Spanos about fifteen years after he immigrated to Maine from the Greek city of Smyrna, Asia Minor, in modern day Turkey.
Bessie's father Sederes Rodis (also spelled Rodentis) also immigrated to the United States from Smyrna. In contrast, when her parents married in 1913, her New Hampshire-born American mother, Blanche Whitham, lost her citizenship because she married an immigrant. By 1938, when her daughter married, such laws had changed. Blanche (Whitham) Rodis successfully reapplied for her citizenship in 1946.
About This Item
- Title: Bessie Rodis' wedding gown, Portland, ca. 1938
- Creation Date: circa 1938
- Subject Date: circa 1938
-
Locations:
- Portland, Cumberland County, ME
- Smyrna, Asia Minor
- Izmir, Turkey
- Media: rayon, wood
- Dimensions: 94 cm x 60 cm
- Local Code: 2018.145.001
- Collection: Costume collection
- Object Type: Physical Object
Cross Reference Searches
Standardized Subject Headings
- Clothing & dress
- Orthodoxos Ekklēsia tēs Hellados
- Portland (Me.) -- Churches (Greek Orthodox)
- Rayon
- Wedding costume
- Weddings--Maine
- Women's clothing -- 20th century
People
Other Keywords
For more information about this item, contact:
Maine Historical Society485 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101
(207) 774-1822 x230
Website
This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. No Permission is required to use the low-resolution watermarked image for educational use, or as allowed by the applicable copyright. For all other uses, permission is required.
More to Consider
My Maine Story
Peter Spanos fled the genocide in Turkey to Maine
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