I must confess Blanche is one of my favourite given names. And I adore this picture of Blanche Tourville Brown—Peter Ovide Tourville and Anna Schenot’s elder daughter—born in Nebraska in 1899, herein appearing with her two daughters, Nadine and Betty Jean, born in 1919 and 1922 respectively. The first time I saw it, I couldn’t help thinking of Martine, the series of children’s books illustrated by Marcel Marlier, first published by Belgian editor Casterman in 1954. This very touching picture was most probably taken at the end of the 1920s.
Statistics
Letter B: only 2% for the Hubou-Tourvilles’ first names.
Either in Quebec or in the States, Beatrice is the most popular. There are also a few Blanche and Barbara. Let’s not forget our Barbe (Beard in French) Hubou, born at the outset of the 17th century! Not many names starting with B for the men. Bernard, Bertram, Buil and Benjamin Franklin were the one chosen by their parents.
Kind Of Funny
Not enough names to choose a winner but I think that the name Barbe will never be used in the 21th century!
The 2016 ChallengeAZ is proposed by Sophie Boudarel of La Gazette des ancêtres
Oops, breaking my own rules! Adolida was my maternal grandmother, not a Tourville. Her first name was chosen by her illiterate mother, likely after an actress. I was told she hated it. Catholic sisters didn’t like it either as it was not a saint’s first name. “What kind of parents do you have? A name like Table or Chair wouldn’t have made any difference!” Well, she was not the only one named like this. I found four others in the 1921 Canadian Census (two of them were born the same year as my grandmother). Do you know any Adolidas?
How can I forget the first time I went to the library with my mother at age 8? I read the five books in one day. Thanks to her, my sister and I just love to read. How many times have we discussed about a book that the three of us had read? She loved to read interlinked novels like the ones of Zola, Balzac, Quebec author Michel Tremblay and Manitoba’s Gabrielle Roy and so many more. Mom, you would be proud to know that your little boy reads too since you are gone. Thanks to you, I am sure!
Before his marriage to my mother, my father was an aircraft mechanic and had the opportunity to work in the Canadian Northwest Territories (which are now known as Nunavut) near Yellowknife during half a year. Our family 8mm color film collection contains a huge reel that only shows boring (and silent!) faded white images (snow, snow, snow) (!). My parents exchanged letters during these long months but they have destroyed all of them after their wedding. They said that those letters were meant to be read only by them and nobody else. I can understand, some things must remain private.
Picking up the “winning” letters always meant a little competition between my mother and sister while playing a game of Scrabble. Sometimes, all excited to have found a word with her letters (thanks to her memory), my mother would triumphantly put her tiles on the game board. « Mom, what are you doing?! » My mother would respond: « This word exists, you want to challenge it? » And my sister to say: « Uh… Well, you have to attach your word to one letter already on the board, not just place it on the cell Triple Word Score! »
Isn’t a genealogist’s dream to have such a great picture? Yes, I know, you are wondering what is so special about it. This photo was taken about 15 years before my parents’ wedding. My parents were cousins you see and this picture is the only one I have of them before they fell in love. My mother told me that my father helped her with her homework (he was more than 10 years her senior). I found this very touching knowing that my father did not have the chance to go to school after the third grade of elementary school.
My parents, then engaged, went on vacation at Pension Langlois, on Lac Sainte-Marie, in Nominingue with of course my maternal grandmother. My mother told us that she was a very strict chaperon and if on the 8 mm film she’s frowning at one point it’s because our lovebirds were out of sight a bit too long according to my grandmother’s rules. No more than 15 minutes for sure; I cannot imagine her being distracted for that long! They had such a great time on that vacation. All their photos say so. Enough to bring their kids vacationing there in the ’60’s.
Before her marriage, even if my mother would make all her dresses by herself from sewing patterns, the fabric, the prints and the colors that she chose made them quite unique. There are several that I found remarkable but the one I prefer is this one. Probably because she wears it in an 8mm color home movie that was filmed in Nominingue in the Hautes-Laurentides region where she was vacationing with her mother (as her chaperone!) and my father before their marriage. The dress was black and white and the collar and the bow on the back were yellow.
My mother always had a special feeling for her son. The only boy in the family and also the youngest child, my sister and I always thought that our brother was mom’s favorite. My mother would answer: “He’s my little boy!”. Her little boy often teased her about her hair when she would come back from the hairdresser on Friday nights, just like on this picture. He thought her hair looked like an helmet. You know, that astonishing hairstyle which consisted of plumping up your hair with a comb? It took an European vacation to make her loose that style!