I do not know what happened to the marriage of comrades Allen and Quartermaster, but with a ceremony like this I suspect it was, at the least, interesting.

‘Anti-Religious Wedding Held by St. Paul Young Workers League’ from Young Worker. Vol. 4 No. 9. March 28, 1925.

The Young Workers League of Twin-citles announces the marriage of Comrade Allen and Quartermaster. Their marriage had its final ceremony at an affair last Saturday evening in St. Paul which was attended by some two hundred Communists and sympathizers.

The wedding took the form of an anti-religious demonstration. It was opened with the International. The first speaker on the program was Comrade Appelbaum of the League who stated the nature and purpose of the League and of the immediate affair. He was followed by Comrade Hathaway of the party who expressed the attitude of the Communist toward marriage and society in general. A couple of numbers by the communist orchestra and the Junior section chorus respectfully preceded the address by Comrade Holtman of New York. Comrade Holtman pointed out that a wedding was not an Important event in the life of a Communist, not when compared with the events of the working class struggle. Another thing he pointed out was that it was not a religious affair but that it was a social affair and that only under a Soviet rule would a marriage receive its proper rating. He called on the married comrades to continue with greater zeal their activities In the Communist movement and to break away as much as possible from the old bourgeois marriage relationships. This last statement must have been effective for after the affair was over both the bride and the groom were diligently at work in the kitchen washing dishes and cleaning up with the rest of the league committee.

A couple of numbers by the Russian chorus introduced the formal ceremony which was a demonstration of the functioning of the Bureau of Vital Statistics of a Soviet Commune. The married couple registered their desire to be married and received a commissar. As the couple passed off the certificate to that effect from the stage a priest bearing the sign which read “This is no place for me;” a rabbi carrying a similar sign which read, “My business is ruined!” and a minister of the gospel bemoaning his “pie-card” came on in sad possession followed by stalwart workers armed with brooms and carpet sweepers “cleaning up.”

Until three o’clock the crowd enjoyed themselves at the tables and on the dance floor; singing revolutionary songs, dancing the “kozak,” the polka, the fox-trot, shouting greetings, buying “cutting rights” on wedding cakes donated by different organizations. Many greetings came in from all sorts of organizations and

people. One of the most interesting ones were the greetings of the groom’s fellow-workers in a bedding factory expressing the hope that they would find the products of their common labor

very useful. The affair was a success both as a propaganda undertaking and as a financial obligation. The proceeds shall go to the Young Worker.

The Young Worker was produced by the Young Workers League of America beginning in 1922. The name of the Workers Party youth league followed the name of the adult party, changing to the Young Workers (Communist) League when the Workers Party became the Workers (Communist) Party in 1926. The journal was published monthly in Chicago and continued until 1927. Editors included Oliver Carlson, Martin Abern, Max Schachtman, Nat Kaplan, and Harry Gannes.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/youngworker/v04n09-mar-28-1925-yw.pdf