Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Wedding Rings Tossed Off Virginia Street Bridge in Reno




Reno Gazette-Journal
24 June 2015


[…] Linda Marino, 67, has lived in Reno for 20 years and recalls divorced women throwing their wedding rings in the Truckee River.

"When divorce was big in Reno, one of my girlfriends and neighbors came down and threw their rings in," Marino said.

"It was something to see, so everyone was coming to Reno to get a divorce and throwing their rings over the bridge."

Marino said she's glad to see the bridge rebuilt and improved. She's has been visiting the bridge since the project started to watch the crews work.

"It's sad to see because there were a lot of memories there," Marino said. […]


Reno Gazette-Journal
7 July 2015


Please be advised that I’m an 80 year old native Nevadan, and as such, I am really sick and tired of reading the perpetuation of the long standing, but to date unproven and disputed, rumor that newly divorced women threw their wedding rings off the old Virginia Street Bridge! Never happened! […]

This phony story and rumor was around 70 years ago and I, as a 10-year-old youth, searched the river bottom in low water times, as did my friend and neighbors. No rings ever found.

The bridge is history. Let’s make this unproven rumor history as well!

Robert Welty, Reno



Reno Gazette-Journal
13 July 2015


Mark Robison

[According to Nevada historian Guy Rocha,] "The 'tradition' might have been fakelore originating in promotional literature, then reinforced many times by publicity gimmicks. While not common practice, real wedding rings found their way into the Truckee because some divorcées acted on what they believed to be a tradition."

Although the practice of celebrating a divorce by throwing one's wedding ring into the Truckee River was never as widespread as media stories and movies made it seem, it did happen. In other words, Welty's claim that it "never happened" is untrue.