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Part 1 - 1920s through 1940s Karen Nesbitt Everyone has a favorite decade in history. Many
people find pleasure reminiscing about their formative years, such as
high school and college, or maybe they just love the nostalgia of a
certain decade's styles, trends, music, and movie stars. Celebrate your
favorite decade by making it your wedding's theme. This is a creative and fun way to travel back in time or to reopen
the treasure chest that holds some of your fondest memories.
The
music, the food, the clothes and the fads ... here are some great ways
to incorporate memorable elements of your favorite decade into your
wedding. The Roaring '20s
This
free-spirited decade abounds with opportunities for a creative wedding.
Flapper dresses, feather boas, long pearl necklaces, zoot suits,
fedoras, and wing-tip shoes. The '20s had cabarets and speakeasies, Al
Capone, Charlie Chaplin, Mae West, Bonnie and Clyde, and the wonderfully nostalgic Victrola.
Hang
beaded curtains from doorways, play silent movies on TV sets around
your reception, and capture your day the old-fashioned way with black
and white photography. Bountiful bouquets were common in the sumptuous
'20s, comprised of orchids, calla lilies, gardenias and cascading
greenery, then adorned with trailing lover's knots. For music, there is, of course, the Charleston, as well as Ragtime music. Some of history's best jazz and blues greats are from this era, like Bessie Smith,
Duke Ellington, and Ma Rainey, including the symphonic artistry of George Gershwin.
Popular
drinks (despite Prohibition) were "Bathtub Gin," Martinis, Champagne,
Shirley Temples, Ginger Ale, Coca-Cola, Kool-Aid, Yoo-Hoo, and Orange
Pekoe tea.
Typical
wedding fare, like chicken, steak, salmon, salad and a starch are
timeless and always acceptable. For this article, however, as we travel
back in time, we thought it much more authentic and creative - and more
interesting for you and your guests - to suggest some of the best-liked
and most frequently served foods of these decades ...
In
the post-World War I period of the 1920s, some favorites were fried
chicken, finger sandwiches, Caesar salad, deviled eggs, molded Jell-O,
and chocolate pudding. The 1920s unveiled some food brands that would
become legendary and could add a deliciously authentic touch to your
theme wedding: White Castle
hamburgers, Hormel ham, Po'Boy sandwiches, Oscar Meyer wieners,
Lender's bagels, Velveeta cheese, and Peter Pan peanut butter. Among
the famous sweets that came along were Baby Ruth, Eskimo Pies,
Charleston Chew, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Life Savers, Milk Duds,
Butterfinger, Popsicles, and Karmelkorn.
Consider
for your wedding cake, the confection that became popular in this
decade: the pineapple upside-down cake. You can have two or three of
them on tiered platters, and decorate the cake table with a rim of
'20s-style ostrich feathers. The Art-Deco '30s
From
this decade hails the elegant, old-Hollywood glamour icons like Clark
Gable, John Wayne, Myrna Loy, Bette Davis, Ginger Rogers, Gary Cooper,
Joan Crawford, and Cary Grant. They donned satin evening dresses, fur
wraps, ankle-strap heels, brimmed hats, and double-breasted plaid
suits. You could rename popular drink concoctions after famous actors,
explained by a drink menu posted at the bar.
You could also name tables after them, and hang black and white posters of them around the reception.
This
sleek decade is reflected in streamlined bouquets of graceful Calla
lilies and long-stemmed roses, as well as "soft" arrangements of
lilacs, snapdragons and daisies.
Yes,
this was the decade of the Great Depression, but 1930s music was
anything but depressing. Artists provided happy, upbeat music to cheer
up a somber nation, and from their efforts, we received the
improvisational jazz of Louis Prima, Duke Ellington, and Louis
Armstrong; the velvet voices of Bing Crosby and Ella Fitzgerald; and
big band/swing music legend's Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie,
and Glenn Miller.
Popular
dishes were basic and inexpensive, but to this day remain classic
favorites: macaroni and cheese, chili, casseroles, meat loaf, hot dogs
and hamburgers. Also out of the '30s came Spam, Philly Cheese Steak,
Campbell's chicken noodle soup, Fritos, Lay's potato chips, Mott's
Apple Sauce, Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookies, Ritz Mock Apple
Pie, Tootsie Pops, Kit-Kat, Smarties, and RC Cola.
How
about a wedding cake made entirely of Twinkies? This was the decade
when Hostess gave us this internationally-loved dessert. You could
serve it with another child of the '30s: Dairy Queen ice cream. For an
even more playful spin on your cake, shape it after the decade's
darling, Betty Boop. Or, use your cake to showcase one of the world's
most famous examples of the modern, elegant, 1930's Art Deco movement:
The spire of New York City's Chrysler Building.
The Swinging '40s
A
big band wedding is the epitome of cool - as in a jumpin' and jivin'
"cool cat." The '40s are personified by Frank Sinatra and fedoras, the
Jitterbug and zoot suits, Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart, halter
tops and pin-up girls, The Andrews' Sisters and World War II.
Formalwear was slim-fitted satin dresses with full-length gloves, a
veiled hat, seamed nylons in spike-heeled shoes, and pin-striped suits
or Army uniforms.
Your
classic, ballroom-style reception should be adorned with strings of
small white lights above the doorways, and simple flowers in glass
vases reflecting flickering candle light. Let helium balloons float to
the ceiling, and arrange some in bouquets around the reception. Combine
miniature musical instruments (sax, trumpet, tuba) with war-time
memorabilia (jeep, battleship, dog tag) to decorate the tables and bar.
The
over-booked '40s bride favored simple floral arrangements like orchids,
tiger lilies and delphinium. She may have even visited her backyard
garden for bouquet candidates. There
was no shortage of upbeat music in the 1940s. Of the crooners who kept
us swinging were Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Eddie Heywood, Dinah
Shore , Perry Como, Tony Martin, Fred Astaire, and Dorothy Lamour.
Popular
dishes of the decade were beans and franks, Neapolitan spaghetti and
meat balls, creamed oysters, noodles with poppy seeds, mustard pickles,
raisin and walnut turnovers, and velvet pie. Famous foods that debuted
in this decade are
frozen french fries, Ragu spaghetti sauce, Kraft grated Parmesan cheese
and sliced cheeses, Minute Rice, Pillsbury hot roll mix, Cheetos
snacks, raisin bran, Cheerios, Dannon yogurt, Chiquita bananas, Lady
Borden ice cream, Reddi-Whip, Dairy Queen soft serve ice cream,
M&Ms, Tootsie Rolls, Welch's Junior Mints, V8 Vegetable Juice,
Constant Comment Tea, and Nestle's Quik.
It
would be so classically '40s to grace your wedding with the delicate
elegance of a chiffon wedding cake! Or for cheesecake lovers, Sara
Lee's decadent recipe was growing in popularity then. Bring your big
band theme full circle and design your cake as a musical instrument.
Come back soon for Weddings of the Decades, Part 2: 1950s through 1980s!
References and Resources http://www.wedthemes.com/ http://www.beau-coup.com/decades-themes.htm http://www.canadianbridal.ca/2008/06/12/an-80s-theme-wedding-makes-everyone-smile/ http://ezinearticles.com/?Planning-a-1970s-Wedding&id=1227944 http://www.askginka.com/themes/1970's-Hippie-theme-wedding-party.htm http://www.askginka.com/themes/themes-wedding-party.htm http://www.foodtimeline.org/fooddecades.html#snacks http://www.leitesculinaria.com/writings/features/dining4.html http://movies.toptenreviews.com/ http://www.ntl.matrix.com.br/pfilho/oldies_list/presents.htm http://www.porthalcyon.com/features/200411/vintagewedding004.shtml
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