High School Diploma - Velma Elaine (Carver) Elsner

The other day while I was looking for something in one of my closets, I came across a few boxes that I hadn't looked in for a while.  They contain things that I got from my grandfathers house (Darrell Elsner) after he passed away.  I was helping my mother clean out his house which had quite an accumulation of things in it, and she let me have a few things to bring back to Texas with me.  He had lived in that house since it was built.  Mom said that my great grandfather (Erick Elsner) built the house for her dad and she remembers when they moved in.  Los Angeles County property records show that it was built in 1952.  So like I said, there was a lot of stuff in there!

One of the boxes contains photographs.  Most of them are of my mom when she was a child.  It also contains photos of me and my sister.  A lot of the pictures are still in the picture frames.  Another box, has very old Christmas ornaments, some are still in the old boxes!  And the last box has some old toiletries.  I don't know why these toiletries were never thrown out, but I'm glad they weren't.  Mom wanted to throw them out when we were cleaning and couldn't understand why I wanted to keep them.  I love them!  They are antique!  I need to find a way to display them.  I think they are interesting and fun to look at.  I will share pictures of them with you another time.  I want to start with something I found amongst the picture frames that I had totally forgotten about.

This is my grandma's High School Diploma!  Her name was Velma Elaine Carver.  She went by Velma when she was young, but later went by Elaine.

It reads:
"Senior High School Certificate
Los Angeles City High School District

This Certificate is awarded to Velma Carver
who has been found worthy in Character and Citizenship and has satisfactorily completed a Special Course of Study as prescribed by the Board of Education.

Given at Los Angeles, California this twenty-third
day of June nineteen hundred and thirty-nine"

It is signed by the Superintendent of Schools and the Principal of Eagle Rock High School.


This is what it looked like before I took it out of the cover:

I don't know what the rusty looking stuff is...mildew maybe?

 

 When I removed the diploma from the cover, I found the commencement program folded up behind it!

I have separated the diploma and program from the diploma cover for now because it looks like the diploma is starting to get damaged from the mildew.  I put them in an acid free box.  Does anyone know what I should do about the mildew?  Should I try to clean it?

I think the outside of the diploma cover is made of a thick cardboard made to look like leather. 

The inside looks like an off-white silk moire fabric that was glued to the cover.

Wedding Wednesday - Darrell and Elaine Elsner

Mr. and Mrs. Darrell Elsner
June 4, 1941

This wedding photograph is of my maternal grandparents Darrell and Elaine Elsner.  They met in a book binding class they attended at a trade school.

Darrell Marvin James Elsner and Velma Elaine Carver were married June 4, 1941. 

Darrell was born March 10, 1920 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  He moved to California with his parents, Erick and Lulu (Robideau) Elsner, when he was a child.

Elaine was born April 29, 1920 in Los Angeles, California.  Her parents were Albert and Olive (Dixon) Carver.

They were married 25 years when Elaine died unexpectedly at the age of 46.

1938 Tournament of Roses Parade



 "Queen of the Fairies"

The first Rose Parade was held in Pasadena, California on January 1, 1890.  It started as a way to celebrate California's mild winter climate.  The first parade was a small procession of flower-covered carriages with afternoon games including foot races, tug-of-war, and sack races.  It evolved into a parade of flower-covered motorized floats built by volunteers from sponsoring communities, with marching bands, equestrians, and a college football game.

The parade is always held in Pasadena, California on New Years Day unless New Years Day falls on Sunday.  Then the parade is held on January 2nd.  The "Never on Sunday" tradition of the Rose Parade began in 1893 when, according to the Tournament of Roses Association Web site, parade officials decided to move the parade that year "to avoid frightening horses tethered outside local churches and thus interfering with worship services."

The picture above is from the 1938 Rose Parade program book.  It shows the float that was entered in the Rose Parade by the city of Eagle Rock, California.  The theme for the 1938 Rose Parade was "Playland Fantasies" and the Eagle Rock float is titled "Queen of the Fairies".  The queen of the "Queen of the Fairies" float was crowned before a large audience in the American Legion Hall.  Each girl was given a cameo lavaliere by the Chamber of Commerce for her participation.  My maternal grandmother, Elaine (Carver) Elsner, is on this float.  She is the third from the left...the blonde in the middle looking toward the camera.  She was 17 years old.