BACK WHEN: Weddings are often a spectacle, history shows

Published 1:30 am Saturday, June 6, 2026

THE ARTS AND entertainment have had an interesting influence upon our language and culture. If you have made a mistake, do you say, “oops?” Or do you say “D’Oh?” (Homer Simpson). Maybe when something irritating happens, you say, “good grief.” (Peanuts) Maybe something nice happens and you say, “bodacious.” (Barney Google)

When your child acts a lot like you, do you refer to them as a “mini-me?” Maybe someone is trying to “get your goat.” Do you respond with “go ahead, make my day!” (Dirty Harry) Maybe you are training a new employee and you refer to them as your “Padawan.” (Star Wars)

As I have said before, there is nothing new under the sun.

Jonathan Swift wrote Gulliver’s Travels. It was published in 1726. It was political satire as much as anything. Gulliver traveled to Lilliput and encountered tiny people engaged in petty political disputes. For a couple of centuries after that, people with dwarfism would be referred to as Lilliputians.

Another familiar word comes to us after Gulliver visits Houyhnhnms. The horses were rational and the humans were savage. The humans were called “yahoos.” It came to be used as an insult meaning a crass, brutish and unintelligent person. Did your parents ever tell you to stop acting like a yahoo?

When life or work seems to be organized chaos, we refer to that as a “three-ring circus.”

Charles Stratton was born on Jan. 4, 1838. At the age of 6 months, he ceased to grow. He was 25 inches tall until his teens. Later, he grew to 40 inches tall. He became a showman noted for his small stature.

He became a major attraction in P. T. Barnum’s Greatest Show on Earth. Stratton was only about 5 years old when Barnum hired him. Barnum publicized him as General Tom Thumb from England.

In 1863, Stratton married Lavinia Warren. She was another of P. T. Barnum’s performers, known as the “Little Queen of Beauty.”

Barnum promoted this “Fairy Wedding” to the heights of society. It was even noted that the national media obsessed over this wedding. It seemed that for a few days the Civil War was knocked from the front page.

Before you think that the Strattons were victimized, they did become wealthy as a result of their fame. They were invited to the White House by President Abraham Lincoln. Their wedding provided them with a lasting legacy.

A phenomenon grew out of this wedding. Tom Thumb Weddings became local events.

Tom Thumb Weddings were mock weddings between young children. A little boy put on a tuxedo and a little girl donned a wedding dress. Many times, these events were used as fundraisers for local causes.

I do not know when the first Tom Thumb Wedding occurred in this area. The oldest reference I found was for Aug. 23, 1912. Mrs. Thwing of Seattle was helping the ladies of the Congregational Church prepare for a Tom Thumb Wedding involving nearly 50 children. “Among these Mr. and Mrs. Midget, the parents of the bride, are represented by Willie Conrad and Edna Rickett. Tom Thumb, the groom, will be Thomas Conrad and little Margaret Smith will be Lillie Putian, the bride. (A reference to the Lilliputians in Gulliver’s Travels.) The officiating minister and his wife are to be Elmer Ester and Lillie Kinder.”

On Jan. 6, 1914, a Tom Thumb Wedding was performed at the Masonic Lodge. “Altogether, the affair was one of the cutest juvenile attractions that has been staged in this city in a long time.”

In 1915, there were three Tom Thumb Weddings on the Olympic Peninsula. The first one was on Aug. 3, 1915, at the Opera House. It was a benefit show for the Port Angeles Marine Band. Velma Woods was the bride and Victor Cox was the groom. “After the wedding a further program of songs, recitations and dances were presented by some of the little folk.”

On Aug. 18, 1915, a Tom Thumb Wedding occurred at the Port Townsend Masonic Lodge. “Several foreign singers, famous the world over, will try to entertain the guests.”

The other wedding was on Aug. 30, 1915, at the Olympic Theater. It was sponsored by the local Rebekah Lodge. “The costumes, flowers, and music and the charm imparted to the whole affair by the solemnity of the entire group of little ones made a very interesting and pleasing show and the entire audience was pleased with it.”

On April 7, 1922, the Ladies Aid of Sequim hosted a Tom Thumb Wedding at the Olympic Theater.

On April 29, 1927, the Women’s Society of the Lincoln Memorial Church hosted a Tom Thumb Wedding at the high school auditorium. There were close to 75 children between the ages of 3 and 10. Three-year-old Marceen Kindred was the bride and 4-year-old Roy Teed was the groom.

Many of these Tom Thumb Weddings were produced by people out of Seattle or Tacoma. They led rehearsals, provided costumes and directed performance.

On May 21, 1936, a surprise wedding shower was given for Lila Pinyerd. A Tom Thumb Wedding was noted as the highlight of the evening.

During the Salmon Derby Days in 1952, the Kids Parade included a Tom Thumb Wedding float.

There are, of course, stories of Tom Thumb Weddings turning into reality. One was in Missouri. In 1913, Mary Elizabeth Chinn and Thomas McCroskey were the bride and groom in a Tom Thumb Wedding. Both were 5 years of age. In 1931, the two were actually married.

Today, some may view such things with disdain. Yet, these pageants were very popular. In a time without social media and television, these were one of the few shows in town.

Tom Thumb Weddings were used teach children religious and moral values. They also were used to model adult life. To local people, they offered entertainment and community fundraising.

You may look back and criticize Charle’s and Lavina’s wedding for its commercialization. You may view it like a circus sideshow. But turn your eyes to today. How many celebrity weddings are lavish events big on show but lacking in substance?

We should remember that every generation has its sideshow.

________

John McNutt is a descendant of Clallam County pioneers and treasurer of the North Olympic History Center board of directors. He can be reached at woodrowsilly@gmail.com.

McNutt’s Clallam history column appears the first Saturday of every month.