Allen Driver Stafford was Dorothy's first husband, and according to one magazine article, her high school
sweetheart. They were married by and at the home of the Rev. J.R. Partridge on Tuesday evening November 9,
1920. Afterwards they went to New Orleans for their honeymoon.
Allen Driver Stafford
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What ever became of the White Swan Building seen in the postcard above? Here are two recent photos,
the building now houses a window company called J. F. Day Company.  The picture below shows the
interesting brickwork.
Many thanks to Warren Reed for letting my use his pictures of the White Swan Laundry. Check out his
wonderful website with over 500 vintage postcards from Birmingham Alabama.
The White Swan Laundry Building in 2007
A White
Swan
Laundry
postcard
ca. 1920
Al moved on after the divorce and in 1926 or 1927 he married Margaret
Johns and they had a son named Edwin. Father and son were in
business together in Houston, Texas when Al passed away on April 6,
1952. I have included here his obituary that tells a little more about his
life, but it fails to mention that he was a 2nd Lieutenant, that he
graduated the University of Alabama in 1921 and also had been active as
secretary to his former fraternity Phi Gamma Delta.
No mention of Al was ever made until his existence was revealed when
Dorothy filled out a marriage license application to marry William Boyd
in 1930. The press got hold of that marriage license but Dorothy refused
to name her first husband and someone wrote "Do Not Publish" on the
official copy of her first marriage license so it would not be released to
the public.
Marriage announcement from 1920.
According to the marriage license Al was 21 and Dorothy was 18 at the time
of their marriage in November of 1920. That would make her birthday
April 26, 1902. After their honeymoon they settled in an apartment in
Birmingham. Al worked as an assistant manager early in their marriage
and eventually worked his way up to management, treasurer and owner of
the family business - The White Swan Laundry in Birmingham.
One 1931 movie magazine story tells how in time the couple eventually had to
move in with Al's mother who was dependant on her son for care. The stress of
living with a dependant mother-in-law was too much and Dorothy needed Al to
choose who his priority was. This revisionist version of the marriage break-up
was printed after Dorothy's very public second marriage. But the story was in
stark contrast to her divorce decree. Dorothy received her final divorce in
February of 1924 and according to that, she was in fear of her 'life and health'.