Chapter 24: End of the War
One morning the end of May, another GI and I walked to a little village a couple of kilometers away. There was a church celebration and procession going on – Corpus Christi, I believe it was called.
The church itself was much like all the others, and there were so many of them: the altar, ornate and splendid in its gold; the lovely altar cloth; candles in their golden candlesticks, which may have been brass but matched the gold of the altar; around the walls religious paintings in their heavy, gilt frames; the sun against the stained glass windows; the solemn intoning of the priest; the toll of the bell, the incense!
The place was crowded. We stood along the back wall and enjoyed the lovely music: a good organ intelligently played, and a choir that sang to make music, not just for the exercise.
Everyone was dressed in his or her Sunday best and, as this was a country parish and all were farmers and their families, their dress was anything but up to the minute. Most of it seemed to refer back to the turn of the century.
Some of the women had on narrow-brimmed straw hats, either black or tan, with a large, rather high, flat crown. These were adorned with a wide black or dark-colored ribbon fastened at the back that hung down to the knees. The hat was worn squarely on the head.
Some of the old women, in widow’s weeds, had a voluminous black head-dress of the stuff hair ribbons are made. It was shaped like two huge “buns” at each side of the head and fastened at the back to hang down over the shoulders to the waist.
Many of the women wore old-fashioned shirtwaists with flowing skirts, no doubt billowed with the help of a couple of petticoats. (I’m not sure of this last – no fraternization, you know.)
The men, in their stuffy dark suits, could have been attending the coronation of Kaiser Wilhelm, as far as style of clothing was concerned. The material, for the most part, was a heavy, rather stiff boiled wool of dark color. Some of the dark grey coats were piped with small, dark green piping that gave a lift to the otherwise sombre clothing. Some of the suits had elk-horn buttons. They were good, stout, substantial suits that were built to last a lifetime and would probably be used as long.
The hats matched the suits and were a type often seen in that locality. It was a narrow-brimmed felt hat with a somewhat conical crown, which was not very high. It was adorned with a little feather or brush sticking jauntily out of the narrow band around the crown and held in place by an ornamental pin or clasp, often made of carved bone.
The little girls were dressed in white: white dress, white stockings, and a small white wreath of artificial flowers on their heads. All were very conscious of their splendor.
The little boys looked particularly stiff in their Sunday finest. Sober little country bumpkins, scrubbed to a polish.
Then, lest it seem that we overlooked them, there were the Mädchen. Most of them were in their first finery since their white dresses. There was nothing unusual about their costumes, just soft colored, darker toned dresses. They all seemed most pleased with their appearance and did look lovely. Clear complexions and unassisted coloring – simple food and hard work in the fields gave them a delightful freshness. Of course, the shy smile and the giggle that seemed always about to escape, as well as the soft curves and some not so soft, all made them worthy of at least a second look.
The bell tolled; the banners were raised; the priest, under a beautiful canopy brocaded with gold, came down the aisle and the procession had started. It wound its way out of the church and through and around the wee bit of a village; over a path lined with laurel branches; past the farmhouses, each with its little altar and flower-decked religious pictures decorating the front of the house. They stopped before a crucifix under which a temporary altar had been set, while the priest offered prayers and asked for blessing on the land; then on again to eventually re-enter the church.