Each week during the Here Comes the Bride exhibit, the history of one of the dresses will be featured on the website and social media. Visit these dresses and more in person from June 2 through August 12, 2023, at the David L. Pierce Art & History Center. Exhibit hours will be listed below the article.
This dress was worn by Elvira “Vera” Kuk (1911-2004) for her wedding to Eugene B. Hunger (1904-1999) on August 23, 1931. Vera’s parents were Romanian immigrants living on Pigeon Hill, and the couple married at her home church, St. Michael’s Romanian Catholic. After the marriage, they went to live with her parents.
Eugene made his living as a factory worker, first at the Aurora Foundry, then Love Brothers Foundry, and finally at Stephens-Adamson. Vera worked as well, at Richards-Wilcox and Stephens-Adamson. They raised two children.
Vera’s dress is a sleeveless, sleek, one-piece white satin, perfect a wedding in the hot summer. It was purchased by the bride from Sencenbaugh’s department store on Broadway for $15.00, equivalent to about $300 today. She completed her ensemble with elbow-length gloves and a full-length veil. The dress was donated to the Aurora Historical Society collections by the bride herself in 1995, and was first displayed in the exhibition “A Walk Down the Aisle” at the Pierce Center in the Summer of 1997.
