#Ruth Hensinger

[angrybell]

Groom was Major Claude Hensinger. His B-29 was shot down after a raid over Yowata, Japan. He parachuted out over China and then he used the parachute as a shelter until he was picked up and sent home.

His wife is Ruth(sorry no one gives her maiden name). She made the dress herself for the wedding after Hensinger shipped it home. They were married in July 16, 1947.

25 years later, her daughter, Susan Hensinger, wore the same dress to be married at the same church as her mother and father’s wedding.

The Hensinger dress was used for a third time at the same church when the Hensinger’s son got married in 1989. The daughter-in-law wore it as she married David Hensinger.

Claude and Ruth Hensinger were married for 49 years until his death in 1996. Ruth Hensinger. She was alive as of 2011. She would be 104 today if alive but damned if I can’t find an obituary for her.

The dress was donated to the Smithsonian. It still has a little blood from where Major Hensinger was injured during the bailout.

[uacboo]

This wedding dress was made from a nylon parachute that saved Maj. Claude Hensinger during World War II. In August 1944, Hensinger, a B-29 pilot, and his crew were returning from a bombing raid over Yowata, Japan, when their engine caught fire. The crew was forced to bail out. Suffering from only minor injuries, Hensinger used the parachute as a pillow and blanket as he waited to be rescued. He kept the parachute that had saved his life. He later proposed to his girlfriend Ruth in 1947, offering her the material for a gown. Ruth wanted to create a dress similar to one in the movie Gone with the Wind. She hired a local seamstress, Hilda Buck, to make the bodice and veil. Ruth made the skirt herself; she pulled up the strings on the parachute so that the dress would be shorter in the front and have a train in the back. The couple married July 19, 1947. The dress was also worn by the their daughter and by their son’s bride before being gifted to the Smithsonian. This item is one of 137 million artifacts, works of art and specimens in the Smithsonian’s collection. It is not on display. For more info: http://amhistory.si.edu/costume/object.cfm?recordnumber=834994

[sartorialadventure]

Parachute Wedding Dress, 1947

This wedding dress was made from a nylon parachute that saved Maj. Claude Hensinger during World War II.

In August 1944, Hensinger, a B-29 pilot, and his crew were returning from a bombing raid over Yowata, Japan, when their engine caught fire. The crew was forced to bail out. Suffering from only minor injuries, Hensinger used the parachute as a pillow and blanket as he waited to be rescued. He kept the parachute that had saved his life. He later proposed to his girlfriend Ruth in 1947, offering her the material for a gown.

Ruth wanted to create a dress similar to one in the movie Gone with the Wind. She hired a local seamstress, Hilda Buck, to make the bodice and veil. Ruth made the skirt herself; she pulled up the strings on the parachute so that the dress would be shorter in the front and have a train in the back. The couple married July 19, 1947. The dress was also worn by the their daughter and by their son’s bride before being gifted to the Smithsonian. (source)

[transparentgentlemenmarker]

It was not uncommon to make wedding dresses from parachute silk back in the day. I thought this was a lovely story to share. 1947 wedding dress made from the silk of the parachute that saved the groom's life during the war. In 1944, Maj. Claude Hensinger, an American B-29 pilot, was returning with his crew from a bombing raid over Yowata, Japan, when the plane's engine caught fire. After safely jumping from the crashed plane, his parachute helped him survive by providing shelter until he was rescued. He proposed to his girlfriend Ruth in 1947 after returning home from the war, and she used the life-saving parachute as material for her wedding gown. The skirt is based on a dress from Gone With The Wind and features the original parachute strings, which Ruth pulled up in the front to create the train effect in the back.

[historycoolkids]

During World War 2, Major Claude Hensinger was flying back to base on a B-29 bomber when one of the engines caught on fire. He jumped out of the aircraft and parachuted somewhere in China. In 1944, China was still largely occupied by the Japanese and Hensinger was unsure whether or not he was in occupied territory or how he would find his way back to the United States. He was also injured from the jump after landing on some jagged rocks. He kept his parachute and used it to keep himself warm during the cold nights and help stop the bleeding.⁣  ⁣ He was able to evade capture and returned to Pennsylvania after the war ended. He sent the parachute that had saved his life to his mother, who dry cleaned the fabric in order to remove the blood stains. Shortly after his return, Hensinger reconnected with his childhood friend, Ruth. After a year of dating, he proposed in 1947 and said, "I'd like to have you make a wedding dress out of my parachute. It saved my life."⁣  ⁣ Ruth was happy to accept, but she wondered: “How am I going to make a gown out of 16 gores of nylon, and all that bias?" ⁣  ⁣ She did some research and took some inspiration from a wedding gown she saw in the window of Hess Brothers Department Store in Allentown. She essentially used the nylon parachute to weave a multi-tiered dress with an antebellum style.⁣  ⁣ “He didn’t see it until I walked down the aisle,” Ruth said. “He was happy with it.”⁣  ⁣ 25-years later, their daughter wore the same dress on her wedding day and the Hensinger’s daughter-in-law also wore it when she married their son in 1989.⁣  ⁣ The Hensingers were married for 49 years old until Claude’s death in 1996. In the early 90s, Ruth donated the dress to the Smithsonian Institution and over the years, it has been on display in a number of exhibits. ⁣ #weddingdress https://www.instagram.com/p/BxfpXIZlIE5/?igshid=1hjdpgua4z8zm

[smithsonian]

It’s wedding season (but you knew that). This gown was made from a nylon parachute that saved Maj. Claude Hensinger during World War II.

The pilot was returning from a raid over Japan in August 1944 when his engine caught fire. When he proposed to his girlfriend Ruth after the war, he offered her the material from the parachute that saved his life.

She worked with a seamstress to create the bodice, and used the strings on the parachute to shorten the front of the dress and create a train in the back.

The couple married July 19, 1947, and the dress was later donated to our National Museum of American History.

It’s not even the only parachute wedding dress in our collection—it wasn’t uncommon for soldiers’ parachutes, made from fabric scarce during the war, to become wedding attire. #ontrend

[tiffanywillis]

Married In The Parachute That Saved Her Husband's Life

Married In The Parachute That Saved Her Husband’s Life

“Ruth Hensinger was married on this day in 1947, wearing a dress made from the nylon parachute that saved her husband’s life. Maj. Claude Hensinger, a B-29 pilot, was returning from a raid over Japan in August 1944 when his engine caught fire. When he proposed to Ruth after the war, he offered her the material from the parachute that saved him.”

Found on Smithsonian’s Instagram.