Happy Valentine’s Day from the Littlest Lovers: Tom Thumb & Lavinia Warren

“There’s someone for everybody” goes the old matchmaker’s expression, and perhaps no words rang truer on February 9, 1863, the day that professional little person Tom Thumb (Charles Stratton) married Lavinia Warren at Grace Church, New York. (I believe that’s Lavinia’s sister Minnie Warren as Maid of Honor; and Commodore Nutt as Best Man). This little stunt, the “Fairy Wedding” by the press, lightened people’s hearts during the depths of the Civil War. We present it to you in the same spirit today.

 

It wasn’t just a publicity stunt, however; the two were a real couple. But even so, their boss P.T. Barnum was probably not too unhappy when the big event resulted in coverage like this:

“I love you completely, my own, my all. But above all, I love this front page coverage in Harpers!”

Last Words on the Wedding (From Soup to Nuts)

Okay, “last” is probably a bit optimistic, cuz pix are still trickling in. But since we pretty much inundated social media with images all day yesterday I just wanted to assure those friends who are probably already tired of it that the deluge is just about over! However, there are folks who only follow us here on Travalanche, and this seemed the best place to lay out the whole story.

My new wife (and long time significant other) is the illustrator Carolyn Stewart (nee Raship). 

I slipped a little bit about our first date (in early 2010) into this post on Henry VIII a few months ago. Henry VIII — now THERE was a guy who got married.

Back in August Carolyn and I tied the knot in a civil ceremony at City Hall, with two close friends Hope Cartelli and Jeff Lewonczyk along as witnesses. You can read more about Hope and Jeff in this profile on our friend Nina Mansfield’s swell web site Not Even Joking. Most of these photos are by Hope and Jeff:

Look! We drew the clerk at Window 13! How Addams Family!

 

The “ring” (we drew them on with Sharpies)

 

First kiss as ‘usband and wife

 

Post-wedding brunch with Lewonczyk and Cartelli

So that was phase one — the legal marriage under our belt. We’d been together six years and it seemed about time.

Phase two was the public wedding ceremony. We wanted to share this bond with our friends and family and celebrate with them as well, so on October 15 we held a succession of events on New York’s Lower East Side, a combined wedding ceremony and vaudeville show at the magical Slipper Room, and then a continuation of the celebration at Paulaner Brauhaus, on the Bowery. The event mixed thematic elements of Halloween, surrealism, fairy tale, and Oktoberfest…just because we like all that stuff and it’s mid-October. Apologies in advance for not identifying some of the photographers — all were taken by friends at the event (I amassed them all in a file and lost track of who took what).

Our wedding officiant was the intoxicating comedic performance artist Kelly “Killy” Dwyer. L-R, we have my female “best man” Hope Cartelli, me, Killy, my bride, and Maid of Honor Nora Lockshin

 

After this, we took vows. Carolyn said “yes” to vows I wrote for her (perhaps the first wedding vows in history to contain the word “cockroaches”).

Carolyn went with an even broader definition of the concept of “vows”, painting them on cardboard signs for me to “agree” to:

Here they are in close up:

Bride whispers to me her secret vow

 

The deal is sealed with the ceremonial drink of wine

We are declared man and wife by a Mock$star

Then Killy sang her new up-to-the-minute song “Vagenda of Manocide”.

I don’t have video of her at the show, but here’s the official Youtube video:

Then I launched the vaudeville show. Photo by the unfailing eye of Downtown Duse  Moira Stone

 

The one and only Poor Baby Bree performs “The Wedding of the Painted Doll” from “Broadway Melody” (1929), written by Nacio Herb Brown & Arthur Freed, accompanied by Franklin Bruno (not pictured). This song was used in my first dramatic performance, in a first grade school play. More on that here.

 

Director/ choreographer Patrice Miller and Jeremy Barker perform “Two Bound, or How I Learned to Love the Coat Rack: A Surreal Vaudeville Dance” to the tune of the Velvet Underground’s “She’s My Best Friend”

 

At this point in the proceedings I believe I gave an expurgated rendition of Edward Lear’s “The Owl and the Pussycat”

 

Lewoncyck and Cartelli sing Gershwin’s “Blah, Blah, Blah” song (1931)

 

Noah Diamond, the man behind the recent revival of the Marx Brothers’ “I’ll Say She Is”, knocks ’em dead as Groucho

 

Gay Marshall, premier Edith Piaf interpreter, sings “La Vie En Rose.” There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

 

I wrapped it up with a fractured version of the old folk classic “Froggy Went a-Courtin'”

 

Bride thanks everyone. Groom reaches for his pistol (the bride must have mentioned the word “art”)

Here’s the wedding and show in a short video prepared by our intrepid friend Nicole DeSmet: 

 

It was our honor to have our beautiful wedding cake made by the writer and artist Sarah Porter, whose new book “Vassa in the Night” is in bookstores now!    Sarah is pictured below.

 

Cake gets distributed. The man taking a seat in the lower right is the great Hovey Burgess, one of American’s top circus historians, who camps out at that table at the Slipper Room almost every night

 

A better shot of Hovey

 

Radio Free Brooklyn’s Robert Prichard and Rachel Cleary arriving

 

The Brick’s Robert Honeywell and Moira Stone (see above)

 

Catherine Porter and Barry Rowell of Peculiar Works Project

 

L-R, Josephine Cashman, Sarah Lahue (back to us), Noah Diamond, unidentified Slipper Room staff lady, Bob Laine, Alyssa Simon

 

Storyteller and author Michele Carlo (“It Came from New York”) and clown/ musician/ performance artist Jennifer Harder

 

Family of bride and groom: L-R: Son Charlie Stewart and Manush and Michael Raship. Writer Nina (Mansfield) Haberli in the row behind

 

Honeywell and Rolling Stone’s Alexis Sottile

 

Son Cashel Stewart with friend Hali Chesher

 

Paige Blansfield and Richard Lovejoy (of the 2014 film The Widowers)

 

Carlo with documentary film-maker Heather Quinlan (If These Knishes Could Talk)

 

From here the scene shifts to the beer hall:

Groom ceremonially taps mini-keg

 

New media artist and electronic musician Todd Polenberg and author Sarah Porter (see above)

 

Gyda Arber, Connie Wu

 

Steve Sabaugh

 

Larry Desgaines w/ the ubiquitous Carlo

 

Painter T. Duryea

 

Untitled Theater Company #61’s Edward Einhorn     

 

Gabriele Schafer and Nick Fracaro of International Culture Lab

 

Author Kevin Fitzpatrick (of Marxfest and the Dorothy Parker Society) and wife Christina Hensler

 

Chris and Jennifer Daltry of Providence’s What Cheer Antiques

 

Bride and Maid of Honor

 

Me and my kiddos Cashel and Charlie

 

Happy bride and groom

Lastly we went to the roof of our Lower East Side honeymoon hotel with some friends and looked at the rare Hunters supermoon and the beautiful NYC skyline. The perfect end to a perfect evening. There won’t be a similar moon in the sky until 2034!