MY 50TH BIRTHDAY PARTY

When I turned 50 my family threw a surprise party for me.  Being born in the 50's they thought it would be fun to do a party based on the 1950's.  It was a party that was planned kind of on the spur of the moment due to some family coming in to town last minute, so they put together what they could. As always, they pulled off an amazing job! It was a lot of fun and a lot of throwback memories to times then.  If you ever want to throw a 50's party here are a few ideas!

They named the diner Rosie after my mom, the hostess.  My sister and my niece helped out. They came up with outfits they had or stuff they found.  

This was the menu.  There was white castle burgers, grilled cheese, fries, milkshakes, cokes and a few other things.

My niece was a waitress. Here she is taking orders.

Another niece, also as a waitress, serving burgers, with a smile.

Here I am - The BIG 5-0!

My son, trying to do the hula hoop. 

Old favorites - Root Beer and Coca-Cola

My sister, and my husband

My Brother,  in his black leather jacket

Old Toys we found in my parent's game closet

Cute picture of my niece and her boyfriend

A very cute idea. Behind an insert wall area my mom put up a curtain and made a photo booth!  They put a camera inside and we sat and had funny pictures taken, like they used to do. We were later able to print them out on the computer in strips like the ones above, and we tinted them in sepia tone. They looked like the real thing!  We sent each person a strip of their pictures in their thank you cards.

Remember Wooly Willy?

My dads old movie projector. Still works! They showed some home movies of me as a little girl!

Original vintage 45's (Good thing we keep everything!)

Old gumball machine, Cracker Jacks, Necco's and Good and Plenty's

There was a four tier shelf with all penny candy and packs of chiclet's gum and gold rush gum. Even little brown sacks to put the candy in.

kitchen area with burgers and fries.

Donuts in glass dome, just like in the 50's.

My niece won the hula hoop contest. She was really good!  Kept it going quite awhile.  We also had a bubble  blowing contest - who could blow the biggest bubble. Also there were bat and balls. I used to love those! Remember ,with the rubber string and ball attached to the paddle?

I tried, but couldn't hula hoop very well!

IBC Rootbeer, Grape Crush, Coca-Cola and Ice cream cones.In the background is an old vintage pie rack with three homemade pies, crust and all!! Apple, Cherry and Coconut Cream.  All baked by Rosie herself!

Since my birthday is in February and I always had valentine theme birthday parties growing up, they decorated the patio in Valentine' decor. There were pink and red balloons, crepe streamers, a valentine shaped cake, valentine heart candies and even vintage valentines, printed off of the internet!  This fold out card was homemade. There are pictures in it of me through the ages.

Some of the vintage valentines (like the ones we use to trade in school on Valentine's Day)

We had 50's music playing and a make-shift jukebox on the table, like they used to have in the diners. Remember them? They were fun!  Another idea would be to rent a big juke box, if you have the extra funds to do so! Also, someone read facts, that had been gathered, from the year I was born - things like the number one song and movie of that year, things that were invented, or important things that transpired during that year.  Between the dancing, contests, photos, home movies, and dining, it was a huge success, and fun was had by all!