BioA: Jensen, Mr. and Mrs. Theodore (Golden - 1981)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Jensen, Finnila, Wilding, Drehmel, Longenecker

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 8/27/1981

Jensen, Mr. and Mrs. Theodore (Golden - 1981)

It was in the depths of the Depression, Theodore Jensen, Withee, had a job and was planning to get married. Myron Wilding, along with another man, came to him with the idea on how to get a lot of wedding gifts. Ted should get married at the Clark County Fair. Ted’s bride-to-be, Martha Finnila, agreed with the plans. The wedding was to be the finale of the Clark County Fair.

Lady Diana had nothing on Martha in regards to the numbers who came to see the wedding. On August 29, 1931, the grandstand at the fairgrounds was filled to capacity. Some say it was most ever seated; estimates ran up to 2,600.

The whole thing was to be a surprise to fair-goers. Jensen recalls, “We planned to get there just a short time before but were there in plenty time. They were pacing the gate when we arrived for fear we wouldn’t show up.” One of the men offered him a little nip of reinforcement. (It was prohibition days then.)

The party went to the base of the grandstand where there were little rooms. Here Martha put on a hoopskirt gown on loan.

The couple hadn’t planned a big wedding as Ted was working a 7 to 6 day, six-10 hour days per week for $60 per month. He was glad to have a job. There would be no time off for a wedding day or honeymoon.

Entertainers performing before the grandstand were the witnesses to the event. On the Jensen’s 35th anniversary, the former Enid Erickson, now Mrs. G.G. Drehmel, Fall Creek, wrote to the Jensens. “I believe I was your flower girl. My father was with Northern States, and seemed to have something to do with the fair. I was five years old then,” she said.

Even though Ted had a sporty Buick roadster, they were glad the fair association picked up the tab for the fee of The Rev. George W. Longenecker.

Martha’s parents weren’t too happy about the event-and were not at the fair.

Ted didn’t take time off to collect on the small gifts offered. Some had strings attached. A business which offered to take care of the couple’s washing gave them a washboard. From a merchant who offered a bed, the Jensen’s found out that there was an extra $40 attached; the merchant was only giving the bed frame, no spring, no mattress. After some discussion they got the “bed” but ended getting a spring and mattress from a mail-order company. (The bed frame had a price tag of $3.90.)

Another merchant gave a quarter ton of coal, worth $2, but the Jensens had to buy a whole ton or winter’s supply to go with it. Another merchant gave five gallons of gas, but you had to fill the tank. Still another gave five gallons, but you had to buy a set of tires to go with it. “You could buy gasoline at 8 gallons for a dollar then,” Jensen recalled.

“We didn’t go to get the other things offered as I could not take off time from work. Some of those merchants looked as if I should be bringing them a gift instead,” Jensen humorously recalled.

The Jensens didn’t go to the Clark County Fair this year and are planning to quietly observe the event of 50 years ago. The Jensen’s now reside in Owen.