Love and Marriage

“[Rino] was attracted to [Pierina] right away and vice versa. They had a very short courtship, about one month…they met and decided to take a chance on their instinct and get married before he went back to Canada. They were very different people but fundamentally they agreed on the important things in life. Both had the same sense of humour.” – Vania

            Marriage—the sacrament that creates a foundation for family—was an essential part of Catholic life in Italy during the 1950’s.¹ Pierina Carrer and Rino Binotto fell in love and became engaged shortly after their first meeting in 1956. They were wed on April 13^th, 1957 in Venegazzu and remained married until death. Rituals, such as Rino and Pierina’s wedding, can be seen as performances with prescribed actions and outcomes.² Although a sense of ritual, tradition and structure was certainly present at their ceremony, the complicated range of emotions³ felt by young newlyweds who were going to be separated again (when Rino later returned to Canada) were also likely present. In “Love and Marriage”, Catholic customs are visible: from the bride’s white dress to the groom’s hands clasped in prayer. This category also offers glimpses into Rino and Pierina’s life together as a couple whose passion grows into commitment, a development gradually created through shared responsibilities, decision-making and caregiving.⁴

1. Rosinal, Alessandro and Romina Fraboni. “Is marriage losing its centrality in Italy?” Demographic Research 11 (2004): 149-172.

2. Feuchtwang, Stephen. “Ritual and Memory.” Memory: History, Theories, Debates, edited by Susannah Radstone, Bill Schwarz, Fordham University Press, 2010, pp. 281-298.

3. Cancian, Sonia. Families, Lovers, and their Letters: Italian Postwar Migration to Canada. University of Manitoba Press, 2010.

4. Stassen Berger, Kathleen. Invitation to the Life Span. Worth Publishers, (2009). 

“Love and Marriage” captions

1a.  A teenaged Pierina smiles at the camera on her first trip to Rome, Italy. [Date unknown]

1b. Writing found on the back of Pierina’s photo, which may have been sent to her husband while he was working in Canada. The original photo appears to be cropped. [Existing dimensions: 4.5cm by 6cm] Translation: “I offer my love with this photo” Translation by: Ornella. Photo provided by: Melissa

2. At the altar waiting to receive the Communion with Rino’s best man. Rino and Pierina purportedly appealed to the local priest to allow them to be married during Lent. [April 13^th 1957, Venegazzu, Italy] Photo provided by: Melissa

3. A happy moment shared between newlyweds at the entrance of the church. [April 13^th 1957, Venegazzu, Italy] Provided by: Melissa

4. Songs and poems performed by local schoolchildren. Nuns who knew Pierina’s mother arranged this unique performance, which moved Pierina to tears, according to Ornella. [April 13^th 1957, Venegazzu, Italy] Photo provided by: Melissa

5. The couple attends a formal event. Pierina’s dress is a soft pink colour, according to Ornella’s memory. [February 1958, Location unknown, Canada] Photo provided by: Melissa

6. Celebrating their 25^th wedding anniversary. [April 13^th, 1982, Guelph, Canada] Photo provided by: Melissa