1950's BBQ

The Rogers

The Wilhites

The Millers

The Chubbs

The 'younger' Miller's

The Dabrowski's
The Goebel's

What an enjoyable evening it was having dinner with 6 more couples from our church. This group was a more serious bunch, but nonetheless it was wonderful to get to know them and hear some interesting stories from their lives. Many of them have lived through the 50's and shared some great stories about those days. We learned about their Chevy Bel Air's, the music, the dances, dating, and family trips from those times. The food was great!


The guests (with what they brought)

The Rogers- pumpkin cake (tasted like a pumpkin roll)

The Chubbs- Oriental Salad

The Wilhites- Potato salad

The Millers- Potato Salad

The Dabrowski's- Rootbeer floats and Orange Cream Bundt Cake

The 'young'Millers- Cheesecake

Us- Hamburgers, condiments, and the most delicious corn on the cob!

The company was great and as always it was an enjoyable game. Here are some of the things that I learned about people-

One couple's 2 year old daughter was kissed by Elder Spencer W. Kimball on the head (in the late 70's)

One couple sang in Carnegie Hall.

One couple had a luau wedding reception with a photo of themselves plastered ALL over the cake.

One husband planned a trip out of town on his 40th birthday since his wife had thrown him a huge 30th birthday party.

One wife got stood up the day before the Homecoming dance so her best friend's older brother took her instead (and that lead to 11 months of dating and a quick engagement).

One couple was asked by the temple recorder before they were married if they were related.

One couple saw Nat King Cole in concert and went on their honeymoon to Sun Valley, Idaho and were vacationing with his parents and her mother in law would announce them as the newlyweds EVERYTIME she saw them. It was very embarressing to them.

These parties never get old for us. We are always looking forward to the next one.

1950's BBQ- How it was put together

This is the placesetting... each guest was seated near a different photo centerpiece

This was the FIRST party that I recieved only one RSVP for and didn't call to verify the others were coming... But everyone showed up... Ladies in their aprons and with a salad or dessert in hand.
I began planning this party about 2 weeks ago. I got the invitations (condiment bottles with the invite written in permenant marker on them) delivered just a week before the party.
I wanted to make some textured green reversible placemats for the party so together with my Young Women on Wednesday night we got them sewn. I had 1950's Diner plates, pint jars for drinking, retro coasters, and white woven fabric tablecloths and matching napkins. For centerpieces I had lots of flowers, metal tin buckets with party favors in them (rolled up BBQ mitts tied with ribbon), some teen novels from the 50's (Bobbsey Twins) and framed photos of actors and actresses from the 50's.
The food was fantastic. Three couples brought salads (two potato and one oriental salad) and three couples brought dessert (cheesecake, pumpkin cake, rootbeer floats, and orange cream bundt cake). We made the hamburgers.
We put together 3 tables and lined them up in the living room. From the ceiling I hung clear Christmas lights (350 lights)zigzagging them across the cieling. Then I hung paper globes from the strands so that they hung over the tables. It all looked so nice. They coordinated nicely with the table decor.
For party favors I bought BBQ oven mitts that coordinated with the colors in the tablecloth and flowers. I rolled them up tightly and tied with a thick ribbon. They were placed in the tin buckets on the table and were part of the centerpieces.