Marriage of Miss Rose Carmel and Mr. Solly Gerschcowit (1925)
Follow the happy couple from the family shop on Brick Lane to a garden party serenaded by the San Diego Dance Band.
This engaging, professionally-filmed snapshot of a Jewish wedding in 1920s London captures the newlyweds celebrating in style with fashionable clothes, music and a joyous crowd of guests. You can feel the party spirit on this sunny summer’s day as flappers, bridesmaids, short-trousers boys and dapper-suited men leave the family shop on Brick Lane for the wedding dance. Guests pose, smile and wave for the camera and the groom manages to steal a kiss from his bride - whose headdress is simply fabulous.
The family store seen in the film was an ironmongers at 50 Brick Lane, owned by the groom’s father Simon Gerschcowit, who arrived from Lithuania with his wife Sophie around 1886. The couple had 13 children and lived above the store. Although Sophie died some months before the wedding, Simon appears in the film - look out for the elderly man with a white beard and large skull cap walking in front of the camera. Some members of the family later relocated to Chingford. (Thanks to Carol and Roy Star for additional family history.)
Duration: 3 minutes
Suggested credit: Marriage of Miss Rose Carmel and Mr. Solly Gerschcowit (1925) © The British Film Institute