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A Bouquet
for Mamie
Ike and Mamie on their wedding day, July 1. 1916.
Ike won many a military and political battle but he met defeat
in trying to preserve his bride's wedding flowers 46 years ago
By LESTER DAVID
The july day in 1916 was cloudless
and sunny a perfect day for the
wedding of a pretty 19-year-old Denver
belle, Mamie Doud, and a handsome 25-year-old
army officer from Kansas,
Dwight Eisenhower.
A few guests were lingering on the wide front
porch of the imposing Doud home on Lafayette
Street, where the wedding was to take place.
But most of them had moved into the large
parlor. There, a harpist was playing in soft
background to the hum of polite conversation.
Ike, chatting in a corner, looked all West
Point in his starched white uniform with choke
collar and gleaming brass buttons. But a slight
shifting from foot to foot betrayed his uneasi
ness. (As Mamie recalls, "It was the only time
I ever saw Ike nervous. He was so scared of
creasing his white trousers that he refused to
sit down until after the ceremony!")
Then someone nodded to Ike, and he moved
toward the fireplace, which was banked with
dozens of pink gladioli (the flowers he still
sends his wife). The harpist began the wedding
march and petite, blue-eyed Mamie floated
down the broad stairs, a vision in Chantilly lace.
Ike's jitters had passed, and he spoke his "I
do" clearly and forcefully. Later, at the recep
tion, he gallantly drew his ceremonial sword and
handed it to Mamie, who used it to cut the
wedding cake.
The ceremony had been so moving that the
young husband was eager to preserve some
tangible memento of the occasion. He considered
a number of things, then hit upon the idea of
preserving Mamie's bridal bouquet by dipping
the flowers in wax.
There was no time to try his idea right after
the ceremony or during the couple's whirlwind
two-day honeymoon to Eldorado Springs, Mo.
But they took the bouquet with them to Fort
Sam Houston, Texas, where Ike was stationed.
As the youngest officer in his outfit, Lieutenant
Eisenhower didn't rate fancy quarters. There was
a tiny bedroom, a bath, a cheerless living room,
and an electric grill and an icebox that made up
the kitchen. But Ike hardly noticed. His eyes im
mediately lit on the icebox, and he hurried to
get the fast-aging bouquet inside.
After they finally got unpacked, Ike went to
the icebox and reverently withdrew the flowers.
Then, as Mamie looked on curiously, he began
shaving bits of wax off a candle. Soon he had
collected a panful of shavings, which he heated
on the grill. When the wax melted, he gingerly
dipped some of the flowers into the hot liquid.
Calamity! The blossoms shriveled. Ike looked
stricken; Mamie stifled a giggle.
After a moment's thought, Ike tried again.
This time he sprinkled drops of hot wax over
the petals. Desperately, he tried this technique
on each of the various flowers in the bouquet.
But it didn't work on any of them. Soon the bou
quet was a shambles and Mamie could no
longer control her laughter.
For a second, Ike was taken aback; then he
saw the humor in the defeat of his elaborate
plans. His face broke into that good-natured
grin which, years later, would be famous
throughout the world and he, too, doubled up
with laughter.
"Maybe it was just as well he didn't suc
ceed," Mamie said recently. "The bouquet would
have been awfully difficult to carry with us on
our innumerable moves of the past 46 yea:s."
What Ike Could Have Done
How to Preserve
a Bride's Bouquet
Young Dwight Eisenhower's attempt to pre
serve Mamie's bridal bouquet with molten wax
was disastrous. But in trying it he was merely
acting on a widely held belief that flowers can
be kept that way.
Unfortunately, most people don't realize that
there is a practical method of preserving fresh
flowers so they retain their color and form
indefinitely. The process, which involves dry
ing the flowers, is so simple that anyone can do
it after a few practice "trial runs." Here are the
six steps to follow:
1. Mix equal amounts of corn meal and borax,
adding three tablespoons of salt for each quart
prepared. (The exact amount of the mixture
needed will depend on the number of flowers
you dry.) Then spread the mixture about an
inch deep on the bottom of a roomy cardboard
or plastic (but not metal) container.
2. Select the freshest flowers from the bou
quet, discarding any that are damaged or past
their prime. Also discard excess foliage. Lay the
flowers on the mixture in the container. Then,
add small quantities of the mixture, working it
very gently around the flowers until they are
buried in it.
3. Store the uncovered container in a place
that is warm and dry but where there is a nor
mal circulation of air. Do not disturb the flowers
during the drying period.
4. After 10 days, test for dryness by insert
ing a fingertip into the mixture and feeling
whether the petals have stiffened. If not, leave
the flowers in the mixture until the petals do
become stiff.
5. When the flowers are dry, ease the mixture
away from them by tilting the container and
letting the mixture flow out slowly. Tap the
flowers gently to dislodge the mixture and use
a camel's-hair brush to remove the last bits of it.
6. Reassemble the flowers into a bouquet,
adding the ribbons and other frills that origi
nally were part of it. Display in a vase or, better
still, in a covered container of clear plastic or
under a Victorian glass dome.
Friends of the bride might enjoy organizing a
"bouquet-preserving party" after the wedding
and present the flowers to the bride when she
returns from her honeymoon. Such an idea could
start a new and charming wedding tradition!
Mabel Squires, author of "The Art of Drying
Plants and Flowers" (published by M. Barrows
& Co., New York.)
COVER:
Admired for his acting ability and casti
gated for his romantic escapades, Richard
Hurt on is as complex as he is handsome ( see
p. 6). He's shown in his much-ballyhooed
role as Mark Antony in epic, "Cleopatra."
July 1, 1962
Published llitveekly During the Summer
LEONARD S. OAVIOOW TrMml and PMMer
WAITER C. OREYFUS lire r'rreidrnt
PATRICK E. 0R0URKE .trfrrrlinng Pirrrfor
MORTON FRANK Direr-toe of rMithrr RWnlion
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