Boomer Bash

shutterstock_696734800 WHAT’S A BABY BOOMER?

A Baby Boomer was born between 1946 and 1964.

Ah, yes….I’m one of them. We were born after the soldiers came back from WWII. We experienced the first TV’s, the Corvette, Jello Moulds, Poodle Skirts, Liberace, Elvis Presley and the Beatles.

We watched American Bandstand and lived through JFK’s assassination. Roller Skating and Hoola Hoops were our hanging-out activities. Our mothers prepared meals from the big red and white Betty Crocker cookbook.

We girls took Home Ec and Shorthand in high school. The boys had Shop Class. High Tech for us was an adding machine or a record player. The girls had bouffant hair and the guys, ducktails.

We watched “I Love Lucy” and “Father Knows Best” obsessively. We watched the Beatles’ first appearance on Ed Sullivan.

We went on to protest the war, wear tie-dye, paint peace signs on our VW bus and drive to Woodstock.

The Baby Boomer Party should be all about:

Music we listened to
Food we ate and our
Memories

Ask your guests:

To bring a High School photo
To dress as they would have for a High School dance
To bring the favorite dish their Mother made…salad, main course or dessert (they’ll have to let you know with their RSVP so you can round out the menu)

THE INSTAGRAM MOMENT:

A full size 50’s car cutout for photos.

THE ENTERTAINMENT:

Baby Boomer Trivial Pursuit!

DECOR:

You’ll need a place to display the photos everyone brings.

I found a rectangular metal plant climber grate that I spray painted and then tied twine across with clothespins for a party and it worked great.

THE BUFFET:

If you have a blank wall behind the buffet, print some of these as mounted posters for the wall.

THE TABLE:

I would make these old time ice cream sundaes instead of flower arrangements, have a couple of these jukeboxes, and then grab some black and white photos of famous people in the Fifties off the internet and frame them to go along the table. Think Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, Rock Hudson, Ernest Hemingway.

I would probably do a black and white tablecloth or a black and white runner (so it’s not too feminine), my $1 black plates from the Dollar Tree, and placecards that had their full name, “Class of …, and the name of their High School”.

DESSERT:

This is a great place for nostalgia. I would do a three tiered stand topped with a cheerleader doll, full of desserts. And then I would put out lots of nostalgia candy and a little box for people to take them home for the grandkids …or themselves.