According to a CBC story, in 2002, a Dutch couple in their eighties presented the Calgary Aerospace Museum with a wedding gown created from the parachute of an Allied Airman from World War II.
This may be an old story, but what a great idea – making wedding dresses from recycled parachutes. After all, they are made from really beautiful silk. This wedding dress has real history, as the parachute was rescued form a German occupied Dutch visit. A citizen named Bill van Neikerk rescued the parachute and hid it under his bed. When the war ended a few months later, van Niekerk proposed to his girlfriend Willemina. He says the soft silk of the parachute came in handy after the two realized a bridal gown would be difficult to find in the war-torn country. She cut up, sewed it and wore the recycled parachute it to her wedding in 1954.
Similarly, Claude E. and Ruth L. Hensinger donated a wedding dress made from a parachute to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
From the museum’s Web site:
“This wedding dress was made from a nylon parachute that saved the groom’s life during World War II. Maj. Claude Hensinger, a B-29 pilot, and his crew, were returning from a bombing raid over Yowata, Japan, in August 1944 when their engine caught fire. The crew was forced to bail out. It was night and Major Hensinger landed on some rocks and suffered some minor injuries. During the night he used the parachute both as a pillow and a blanket. In the morning the crew was able to reassemble and were taken in by some friendly Chinese. He kept the parachute and used it as a way to propose to Ruth in 1947. He presented it to her and suggested she make a gown out of it for their wedding.”
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