Incidentally, SB, did we see Appolonia carrying her "little silk purse" with the wedding gifts? I was made aware of this custom (in a cross-cultural way) many years ago. A co-worker got married, and she described how the gifts were given to her to put in a silk purse. Her parents were immigrants from Genoa, and they called the purse the "sciafadon'." Her husband's people were from Sicily, and they called it "a-boosta," probably meaning "a-posta," as in mailbag.