Weddings in a small city in the 1950s were the most important social event in the community. Funerals were more of a somber business where one would not take snapshots. Here are some photos of Mario Amorim, my Father's brother who married Edes Garbellini on 27 July 1958 at Saint Anthony's church.
Mario Amorim waits as Edes Garbellini kisses her father's hand before entering the altar... In the background there is an unidentified girl on the 1st pew. The boy looking away is Fernandinho Amorim. The black young man is Ramilo, related to the family through his mother Joana having married Joaquim Pavão. The woman holding a toddler is her mother Yolanda Darin, having her youngest son Osvaldo and Maria Lucia on either side.
Edes Garbellini & Mario de Amorim.
the newly-wed are waited by Mario's cousin José de Oliveira - from Ourinhos-SP who owned a brand-new American car.
Outside Saint Anthony's Church still under construction on 27 July 1958. Clockwiese from left to right starting in the back row: Nadir Martins (wearing sun glasses); ? ; Albina-Altina Rosa de Jesus; Eunice Jamiswski; Sandra Helena being held up by her mother; Dulce Roza (?); Maria Rosa; ?; Aparecida (from Ourinhos) & her husband Benjamin de Oliveira; Margarida Rosa de Jesus; Joana Ribeiro, Fernando Antonio Amorim Neto; Luiz Carlos Amorim; Osvaldo Amorim; Celso Silverio Coelho, Maria Lucia Martins; Gabriel Marcolino Coelho & Dulcineia Coelho.
a blown-up detail of the photo below shows some unidentified ladies on the left plus Maria Rosa Amorim, Yolanda Darin & Eunice Jamiswksi holding Sandra Helena.
Males got together for a photo opportunity at Mario's wedding.
Fernando, Maria Lucia, Yolanda holding Sandra & Luiz Carlos.
Mario Amorim's wedding on 27 July 1958 is emblematic. One could see people at the church and later at the groom's house guests who had been born in the late 1800s - like the grooms' parents' brothers and sisters. Edes Garbellini had an Italian heritage; Mario's ancestors were Portuguese.
When you look at the photo above you realize most people were poor. Some were surely taking strides towards being accepted into the Brazilian middle class like cousin José de Oliveira, from Ourinhos-SP, who boasted an American car and his youngest brother Paulo Cesar de Oliveira who was going through Medical School. Günther Karg, of German extraction, worked for the Taxation Department. He was married to Antonia Amorim, Mario's older sister who worked for Canadian Companhia Telefônica in Baurú-SP.
Some of the older folks like João Pavão and Domiciano lived on the edge of poverty in the outskirts of Marilia. You can even see Black young men here whose grandparents had been slaves before 1888.
Mario was 32 years old and not a spring-chicken anymore, even though he sure looked much younger than his age. It had taken him too long to get through the educational system as he was a late bloomer. He came from a family of peasants who didn't know the value of education as a step upwards in the ladder of the class system. When Mario realized he'd lagged behind he must have had a rude class awakening that propeled him into getting himself into a hard program of 'getting himself an education'.
If Mario had followed the regular timetable he'd have graduated in 1941, when he was 15; but Mario missed a few years and graduated from a teacher-training school (Curso Normal) almost 10 years later. Soon after getting his degree - circa 1951 - Mario moved out to São Paulo, at first staying with his cousin Roldão Lacerda, on Rua Caquitos, in Penha. Later on, Mario moved into a boarding house on Rua Abolição at Bela Vista, closer to the central aerea.
It was during this time that Mario bought a powerful motorcycle which he drove from São Paulo all the way to Marilia - 489 km away.
Mario managed to enter PUC - the Catholic University - where he graduated as a social worker and soon after started working at Hospital das Clinicas from 7:00 to 1:00 PM and at Santa Casa de Misericórdia from 1:00 PM to 7:00 PM.
Not long after Mario managed to give a down-payment on a 2-story-house on Rua João Moura, in Pinheiros and moved in with his wife.
Mario de Amorim male-bonding in a Sao Paulo restaurant - He's the smiling chap 2nd from the right anti-clockwise; his younger brother Claudio Amorim, the 3rd fellow from the left clockwise looks wistfully through his thick glasses to the camera; Obara looks on...
Sandra Helena, Osvaldo Luiz, Albina Rosa de Jesus, Louro being held at Celso Silvério's hand, Dulcinéia Coelho, Mario Amorim, Gabriel Marcolino Coelho, Dulce Roza & Paulo Cesar Coelho circa 1965-1966.
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