The fifties were much more than poodle skirt and saddle shoes . The epoch was fill up with dinner parties and adventurous dishes , too . Need evidence ? Just flip through a vintage cookbook brim with bunch - pleasing recipe for pupu platters , Spamloaves and wienerwurst casseroles .
These atavistic recipes are the gross intake for bewilder a 1950s dinner company . land to life history by a propagation of homemakers on the cusp of a firm solid food revolution , midcentury transportation personify a clip when nursing home - falsify meals were the norm – and served with sombreness - defyingJell - Osalads , in both sweet and zesty varieties , on the side .
throw a fifties dinner company is fun , but it ’s no small feat . After all , during this X a typical day began by frying bacon , poaching egg , flipping pancakes , broil Malus pumila , brewing coffee berry and pullulate Milk River . And that was just breakfast . On a Wednesday . you’re able to opine what dinner must have been like .
To get you set out , we ’re sharing our top five tips for throwing a 1950s dinner company ; it all begins with a few retro formula sources on the next page .
5: Find ’50s Recipes
The first rule of a 1950s dinner party ? Set a busily beautiful table and top it with elaborately designed , delightfully low - brow foods . We ’re talking broiled Citrus paradisi , Jell - Omolds , cheese - filled celery stalks , annoy eggs and pimiento - stuffed olives – coiffure in patterns , place on tiered server , layer to improbable altitude or speared with frilly toothpicks . Move on to the main course with more purely ' 50s fare , like poulet divan , tuna casserole , Swedish meatball or pineapple - Spam kabobs . magnetic dip pieces of pound cake and yield into cocoa fondu for dessert , or serve up slices of a Roman mile - high chiffon cake .
Make your 1950s dinner political party authentic by scouring time of origin cookery book for recipes . you’re able to find them for resale online and from used bookstores . In addition , a telephone number of classic cookbooks have been resurrect for reprinting . The 1953 edition of " The Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook , " for example , is once again for cut-rate sale – and on the ledge at many public libraries . There are several vane sites and blogs devoted to midcentury recipes , easily found through a Google search . Your favourite food and recipe powder store may have an online archive that dates back to the fifties . Or , you may expect your female parent or nan for a few household favorites from her recipe collection .
4: Create that ’50s Feeling
In the fifties , root were the affair . Midcentury partiers were mad for Hawaiian -style luau . And you will be , too – if you ’re open to a liberal smattering of kitschy interior decoration to set a tropical mood .
pose up a tiki bar and process umbrella drinks in coconut containers . Hang reproduction posters from the fifties that depict Hawaiian travel , and beautify mesa with uke , palm fronds and pineapples . If you ’re feeling really ambitious , the mesa centerpiece can double as the independent dish : roast slovenly person . For a fitting soundtrack , toy " Lovely Hula Hands " by Bill Campbell , " flyspeck Bubbles " by Don Ho and , of course , " Blue Hawaii " byElvis .
To give your dinner party company an elegant turn , head more toward " Mad manpower " district . For style aspiration , revisit " I Love Lucy " rerun or see " To Catch a stealer , " the 1955 moving picture star the iconic Grace Kelly and Cary Grant . Your Hollywoodesque bill of fare might include duck a l’orange , Gallic - style green bean and bliny canapes ( topped with caviar if you ’re dead set on lavishness ) . diddle a big band soundtrack featuring a croon Bing Crosby , and be certain to have a few Martin Denny tunes on manus . Yes , Denny was known as the king of the tiki hut , but he ’ll still furnish the good vibe to set the fifties humor , whatever theme you choose .
3: Dress the Part
Selecting the correct dress for a fifties dinner party does n’t require a freshly tailored time of origin outfit . But you must block what you experience about " casual " attire – at least for a few hour .
Today ’s casual dinner party parties may allow khaki shortstop , bowling shirts and somersault - washout , but other guests would have been aghast if you ’d darkened the door of a midcentury bash in such an ensemble .
To keep your dinner party looking the part , gents should wear a streamlined courtship and tie-up ( either broad and pattered or tight-fitting and unmixed would be retro - fashionable ) , while gals should wear down a cocktail dress or skirt and blouse with kitten heels . And , if you ’re the stewardess , be sure to drop off on a vintage forestage – or a period breeding – as you do your kitchenly responsibility .
Do n’t block to clothe your mesa , too . Busy shape and sheer colors were democratic for both wear and decoration , so do n’t be afraid to go big . If you do n’t bechance to have a 1950s tablecloth handy , you could make your own using fabric from a thrift store or craftsmanship shop ( look for orotund , watercoloresque floral or fruit prints on blanched backgrounds ) and hem it with hemming tape if you do n’t have the clock time or patience to sew .
2: Mix Some Signature Beverages
In the 1950s , " fast " meals were more complicated than emptying a loge of noggin and stirring in a packet boat of powderedcheese . In fact , recipe for fricasseed chicken or lamb lather were usually suggested for no - fuss weeknight meals . Lucky for you , scald up a few cocktail for your fifties dinner company wo n’t be as complicated .
advocate retro sippers include bare classics like the martini – stir 2 - 4 dash of dry vermouth and 2 1/2 ounces ( 75 milliliters ) of good - quality noose or vodka in a glass with ice for about 20 seconds , then strain into a chilled cocktail chicken feed and garnish with a pitted olive and/or a gimmick of lemon skin . Or , for those with sweeter taste , the Manhattan – stir 2 dashes of bitters , 1 snow leopard ( 30 milliliters ) of sweet vermouth and 2 ounces ( 60 milliliters ) of your blended whiskey of pick in a glass with ice for several seconds , then strain into a chilled cocktail chicken feed and garnish with a Maraschino cerise .
Of naturally , if your ' 50 party has a luau theme , you ’ll want to make something rum - based , like an old - fashioned daiquiri – mix 3/4 ounce ( 22 milliliters ) of fresh - squeezed lime succus , 1 ounce ( 30 milliliters ) of simple syrup and 1 1/2 oz. ( 45 milliliters ) of white rum in a cocktail mover and shaker with ice , shake for several seconds , then strain into a cocktail ice and garnish with a thin slice of fluxing lime . you’re able to make your own simple sirup by simmering equal parts white granulatedsugarand water in a saucepan until the sugar dissolve – the syrup will keep , refrigerated , for about a month .
For a non - alcoholic understudy , reconstitute a space - age drink : Tang . This brightly colored , orange - flavored drinkable was n’t actually invented for NASA , but since several early astronaut , including John Glenn , drank it during outer space flight , it ’s a nostalgic conversation starter .
1: Pick Up Etiquette from Another Era
" Emily Post ’s Etiquette : The Blue Book of Social Usage " ( 1950 ) included mannerly advice for middle - classwomenwho – without the gamey - guild aid of hired help – roleplay as cooks , waitress and hostess of their own dinner party party . They were advance to greet their client cordially and remain gracious under all style of circumstances , from fallen souffle to uninvited meeter . Guests , meanwhile , were expected to arrive incisively on time and be pleasant participants in whatever activity the host offer , from pic record album perusal to post - dinner party games .
" Amy Vanderbilt ’s Complete Book of Etiquette " ( 1957 ) was also full of instructions – properly down to second serving : " If only one guest has taken minute , when the phonograph recording is passed to you , it ’s sociable to take a small amount to ' keep him company . ' "
Post and Vanderbilt were n’t the only pundits offering life-time guidance – many 1950s cookery book did , too . The 1956 edition of " Betty Crocker ’s Picture Cook Book , Revised & Enlarged " offered pithy instruction on everything from cleaning your family ( " If you experience banal , lie down on the story on your back , put your hands above your head , close your eyes , and relax for 3 to 5 min . " ) to personal outlook ( " Every dawn before breakfast , combing hair , apply make - up , a dash of cologne , and perhaps some mere earrings . Does admiration for your esprit de corps " ) .
These days , what with our ever - develop , increasingly feverish social lives , it ’s no curiosity we ’re sometimes nostalgic for a time when the rules seemed crystal light .
