Until the late 1960s, Hagerstown was home to an unusual sight: lavish wedding ceremonies where the heads of the participants barely reached above the tops of the pews. In a popular fundraising tradition that would span most of the 20th century, Hagerstown was the site of many mock marriages between children, colloquially called “Tom Thumb weddings.” The earliest records of local Tom Thumb weddings date back to the early 1910s, when a small advertisement appeared in the Morning Herald inviting the public to Trinity Lutheran for the wedding of Mr. Tom Thumb to Miss Jennie June. Other groups continued the tradition until the 1960s, and the weddings helped to raise funds for everything from the Y.M.C.A. Camp at Big Pool to the purchase of choir robes for St. Mark’s Young People’s Choir. These were not simple ceremonies, either, but lavish fetes with dozens of young participants. The brides and grooms were attended by large wedding parties, and often another child was dressed up as a miniature minister. The earlier weddings included elaborate handmade costumes for each child, including full tiny tuxedos for each of the boys, and long gowns and veils for the girls which highlighted the wedding fashions of […]