Party attitude hair make up quick tips 1920s-30s

Quick Party Tips from the 1920s, 1930s
Make your next party successful and low-stress
Guest List, Attitude, Beauty

Do you have a party coming up? Are you the host/hostess or a guest? Maybe

New Year's Eve Party 1917

you're into vintage beauty, the retro look, whether it's pinup beauty, 1940s fashion, 1930s Hollywood glamor or the 1920s Great Gatsby Flapper look. Is it for just one event or is it your lifestyle year-round? 

Back then like today, it was as much a matter of scheduling and our mindset as it is today. The following pieces of advice, quotes and paraphrases are taken from articles from the style and beauty sections of 1920s-30s film magazines. 

It seems as if there are fewer guides, ideas and rules now but judging by the morning after a party, the 'what not to wear' and 'walk of shame' columns, the lists of what is 'age appropriate,' we realize that there will always be rules out there. We can find help or inspiration in those that move us.

The guest list 

Sylvia Sidney, James Cagney
Blood on the Stone

Have to invite someone you don't like? The boss, the in-laws, the...?

"Sometimes bores are simply unavoidable, and if such a dilemma faced me I'd obviate it by gathering all my bores in one basket and sequestering them at one table, for instance or see to it that they were seated together. 

"The result? Each would believe himself to be the one brilliant member of the party, so they'd all have fun and be subtly flattered besides."
-- Sylvia Sidney 1936

The best personal announcements and invitations will get attention, be saved, remembered and attract guests to actually attend your event. Will you be funny, traditional, choose that old Hollywood theme, add photos?

 Don't skip a party because you think you might want to leave early! Devise a clever get-away plan. Actor Ned Sparks used his bulldog, Betsy as an excuse when he wanted to take off from a dull party, or even if he wanted to refuse the invitation altogether. 

"Oh I don't know what Betsy will think of me I was out last night," Ned will say when he wants to decline an invitation. Or when he wants to leave a party early he will explain, "Don't know what Betsy will say to me, I'm so late!" Not everyone knew just who Betsy was, but it didn't seem to matter.

In the 1933 Alice in Wonderland with Charlotte Henry, Cary Grant, Gary Cooper and W. C. Fields and Edward Everett Horton Ned Sparks was
The Caterpillar.

Billie Burke de-stresses before the party
Gloria's Romance 1916

Pump up your party attitude 
Before we consider hair, make-up or clothes "here is a personality point worth more than a big bouquet of orchids or an ermine wrap. This is the business of getting yourself into a party mood. Work up the spirit of expectancy. 

"Deliberately plan to enjoy yourself, no matter what and see that others enjoy themselves. This is practically a failure proof plan for a lovely evening. Though you may secretly long to walk off with the handsomest man of the evening and be the whole pivot of attention submerge it in the idea of a good time for all and see what happens."

One article proclaimed, "If you don't have a good time it's your own fault. Join in games even if you know you're a dub at them and laugh at your own mistakes but don't make any more than you can help. If it's an informal party offer to help your hostess serve if you know her well, but don't use it as an excuse to show off your housewifely skill to prospective husbands. Men see through that sort of thing."


New Gadgets Developed for Cocktail Hour 1935 Universal Newsreel; Offer them a cool adult beverage

"You perhaps think about yourself a great deal and in time that leads to under valuation. But don't communicate that viewpoint to others. It's fatal to popularity. If you find yourself growing self conscious jerk your thoughts away quickly and ask your partner something about himself.

"A good way to overcome shyness is to seek out other bashful men and women and try to put them at ease."

It was on a season of The Next Food Network Star, that I first heard someone use the term, resting bitch face.  
 
It's along the same lines of the old standby, "If you're having such a good time why don't you tell your face?"

Joan Crawford 1927

Your facial manners

A 1930s article by Joan Crawford talked about facial manners, how to be aware of how our expressions and the way dwelling on something can be bad in more ways than one.


Joan Crawford was very conscientious in studying her own face on the screen. Too often we rely on make-up to accent our faces and make them come alive. ... Most bad facial manners are unconscious of course.

"I will wager that if you will glance at your face in any passing mirror you will hurriedly change your expression to a pleasanter one! 

"Here are the commonest bad facial manners. Frowning, squinting, screwing up any part of the face are not only ugly in themselves but leave unlovely lines in their wake. Sulking is bad manners, social as well as facial and will spoil the loveliest face.

"Pouting distorts the mouth.  Watch for these things yourself in your mirror. Don't copy the little grimaces of your friends. .... 

"Be careful of the thoughts you think. As sure as you're alive they will be written on your face. And you can't cheat at this. Your social manners may be perfect. You may say pleasant things to your hostess while thinking what a dull time you had. But you cannot think hard, cross thoughts over a long period of time and not keep a record of them in your face."

Bebe Daniels in the bath 1920

Beauty for a party 

Bette Davis sprays
eau du Cologne onto
her hair

"No matter how elaborate or informal a party is it's always loads of fun for the girl who knows how to pretty up for it. 

"The wall-flowers at any party are the ones who didn't take the trouble to make themselves extra-attractive for the big occasion. Don't be like that!"

(Pretty up! This reminds me of Barney's saying Suit up! on How I Met Your Mother.)

"Be smart with your party preparations and you'll be a sensation not a wall-flower. Accent your eyes so they won't fade out wearily under the electric lights."



Vintage style updo tutorial
"Tint your cheeks with a new rouge.

Besame Vintage-Inspired
Cosmetics

"Treat your eyes before you make them up, removing any bloodshot traces.
 
"Flatter yourself with a facial before starting to make-up.

"Most girls use a scent of some kind if only a mild sachet powder rubbed right on the skin. 

"Perfume your whole body by sloshing a perfumed cologne over yourself or by patting it on with a square of cotton after you step from the tub."


Actress Constance Bennett prepares for an evening out in the 1930s

Marie Wilson Up-do Hairstyles

"Slenderize your fingers by wearing your nails long? Over foundation of colorless polish wear a coat of salon-type polish to harmonize or contrast with your gown making your nails sparkle like jewels.

"Curl the ends of your hair and pile them high on your head for one of those pre-war coiffures.

"Pin those high-piled curls in place with springy bobby pins, choose some that will hold their shape and are practically invisible once they're in place.

"If you wear your hair nice and straight like Bette Davis with the ends only slightly fluffed have you ever tried eau du Cologne to make them curl? Bette finds it works beautifully when sprayed on. 

"Ida Lupino does a patch-up job on unruly curls by setting her hair with cologne. She dampens her hair with cologne and rolls it up into a pin curl. It will dry in a few moments.

Art Deco Hair:
Hairstyles from the 1920s-1930s (Vintage Living)
5 Star Customer Rating

What will you wear??

If you sew cleverly, you can make a gown that might have come straight from a Hollywood designer then you don't need any advice about party clothes. But cheap materials and amateur dressmaking show up more quickly in formal clothes than in everyday garments. ... Wear something appropriate to the event and something that represents you. 

Tallulah Bankhead Feather Headdress
Ziegfeld Follies Girl Photo Pinup Cheney Johnston
Art Deco

"And I beg you don't choose party clothes for their practicality ... A dashing becoming gown, good grooming and poise are your best introductions to strangers. 

"At a big affair it is a good thing to be identified as 'the girl in the red dress,' or 'that stunning blonde in the black and white.' The main thing is to be noticed and remembered favorably. Names are sometimes forgotten at first meetings but visual impressions remain."
 

A fashion show at a chic nightclub 1933

"Even if your escort isn't exactly the Prince Charming of your dreams pretend he is for that evening and it will make you both happier. Let him think he is helping to provide a wonderful time for you. That will encourage him to do his utmost to make it so. There aren't any rules for having a good time at parties or anywhere else."

Find some great music from the era.


Have a good time at your party! Fats Waller - Ain't Misbehavin' - Stormy Weather (1943)


What do you think of the advice dolled out to the ladies in the 1920s and 30s? Then, as now columnists and pundits disagreed and trends changed.


Related pages of interest:

Group games for parties, holidays for young people and adults

Hollywood hosts, hostesses party, decor menu 1930s

Dressing Male Stars of the 1930s and 1940s



Sources include articles, interviews, snippets from magazines:
Hollywood September 1938
New Movie Magazine July 1924
Photoplay December 1930
Screenland March 1935, November 1938

Cocktail Recipes film star ideas named drinks 1930s

Cocktail Party Vintage Hollywood Style Recipes

"The Garbo cocktail will make you act like a star? One of Hollywood's little

Bing Crosby
likes the
Bogey best

worries just now is that bartenders, without permission, are naming innumerable drinks for motion picture stars. 

"The Garbo cocktail for illustration has a dash of Swedish bitters in it and six of them would make anybody act, but Garbo never even saw one. There is a Gable cocktail but the suggestion that Gable really should be on the house probably will result in its fadeout. Wallace Beery seems the only big star who is safe for no one will consider putting out a Beery cocktail." -- March 1936

Rosalind Russell supplied the recipe for the Rosalind Russell to Lucius Beebe for his Stork Club Bar Book (Classic Cocktail Books series), a volume that also advertises the Ralph Bellamy Scotch Sour. 

Somehow vintage cocktails, those seen in our favorite films and the ones however they came to be, named for favorite film movie stars can be fun to make, serve and of course to drink.

Have you ordered a champagne cocktail after seeing them in An Affair to Remember? Tried a Gibson after that romantic train ride in North by Northwest? 

Some of these will give you an idea of how times have changed or stayed the same. A few may be less than politically correct. Retro drinks to use if you're planning an event, a movie party or the next time the family gets together. Toast one another over the 'net as you hate a Twitter party while a bunch of you watch movies together virtually.


The Stars Suggest Recipes for Cocktails & Drinks

Norma Shearer's favorite is a frappe consisting of one part cognac and one part grapefruit juice and sugar to suit your taste.

Stuart Erwin and Jane Collyer have a drink they call an Avenue A.
Two-thirds bourbon and one-third vermouth. Shake well and put on ice until thoroughly chilled. Add a sprig of mint.

"'The Upsy-Down cocktail has the potency of a Clara Bow kiss,' promises Richard Arlen. Probably you have never tasted a Bow kiss, but perhaps you have kicked a mule. The effects are the same. Dick's favorite mixture is thus concocted.
 
"'Take the juice of one lemon and disguise in four hookers (a hooker is a small glass about two inches tall) of Scotch whiskey. Add four teaspoonfuls of powdered sugar and one egg. Season with  two dashes of orange bitters. 

"'This should make enough for four people' said Arlen. 'Unless they're college students, in which case you'll only have enough for two. I mixed this for four Hollywood yes-men - and they went right out and said No to Cecil B. DeMille.'"

Clara Bow and Richard Arlen co-starred in Wings, the film that won the first ever Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Picture at the first Academy Awards, 1927.

Sherry Flip; They say Edward G Robinson likes this 
"His friends call it the Little Giant-Cracker Cocktail for Eddie's Benefit.
Take one-half jigger of imported sherry and pour into shaker.
Add one whole egg. (No, not the shell darlings.) Anyway, add one whole egg and one-half tablespoon powdered sugar and a liberal dash of rum. Pour into mixer with fine ice and shake until creamed. Serve in a cocktail glass and decorate the top with nutmeg."
 
The Bogey Cocktail, a favorite of Bing Crosby
Not named for Humphrey Bogart though. It was created when Crosby "entered a motion picture golf tournament." Good old Nineteenth hole, something to follow your game.

"'For each drink served in a ten-oz glass take two jiggers of gin, one part of lemon juice and a spoonful of powdered sugar. Fill the glass with cracked ice then add champagne until the glass is full.
 
"'No shaking, just stir,' says Bing. 'I guarantee this one will make you croon.'" 

The Morning Call
Use a tall shell glass, half filled with shaved ice. Add one-half wine glass of absinthe, one-half wine glass of lemon juice and one-half wine glass of Maraschino. Fill with seltzer water and stir.
"There are several morning cocktails. Here's a neat little number named The morning Call and prescribed by Grant Withers. It's a sure cure for those morning blues." - 1934

Joan Bennett prefers a good old Martini dressed up with a dash of absinthe and served in a glass with both lemon and orange peel.

There are drinks named for the original screen sex symbol, Rudolph Valentino. Included is the Blood and Sand cocktail named for one of his most famous films.
INGREDIENTS
2 oz. blended scotch, chilled
1 oz. Cherry Heering liqueur/Cherry Brandy
1 oz. sweet vermouth
2 oz. fresh squeezed orange juice
1 maraschino cherry, orange or lemon slice garnish
Add ice then shake, strain into 8 oz chilled glass

A fave of Fred MacMurray, suggested 1935
Bridge Punch
"For one serving, the juice of 1/2 lemon
2 cubes of ice, pint of ginger ale in a man-sized glass
Float a glass of claret on top and add some fruit"
Guess it's good for when you're playing cards?

Planter's Punch, specialty of The Brown Derby Restaurant
Like fruity drinks? This is made with a jigger of brandy, juice of three limes, a dash of grenadine and Jamaica rum floated on top. Served in a tall glass filled with shaved ice and garnished with cherries and a slice of orange.



Make a layered drink the old fashioned way, with your bar spoon

John Taffer, host of Bar Rescue demonstrated the Layered Cocktail on the Rachael Ray Show  "This Red-and-Green-Layered Cocktail Is Perfect for Christmas" Make drinks that wow the guests at your next party. Find the Rainbow cocktail layering tool below. There is also the VacuVin Cocktail Layering Tool and the good old Black and Tan Beer Layering Tool.

Claudette Colbert's favorite is a Parisian Pousse-café (a layered drink) made in a wine glass with two-fifths curacao, two-fifths Kirschwasser and one-fifth Chartreuse. These liquids should be floated one on top of the other. Ah, somewhere over the rainbow.... 

This and the Wicked Witch seem ideal for your next Wizard of Oz party, especially if you get some of those round ice cubes -- you can see Auntie Em inside. Some non-alcoholic versions are fine for kids -- make them into ice cubes. There are layered coffee latte versions.

Some other layered or stacked drinks include the
B-52
Jellyfish
Angel's Kiss
Wicked Witch
Nuclear Rainbow
Tequila Sunrise cocktail

This reminds me of those Astro pop lollipops they had when I was a kid. Candy Cafe has those and lots of other nostalgic candies.

Final Touch Glass Rainbow Cocktail Layering Tool

Constance Bennett offers the Brandy Blazer:
One lump of sugar one piece of orange peel,
One piece of lemon peel and one wine glass of brandy. 
Serve in a small thick glass, light with a match and allow to burn for 30 seconds stirring it all the while. How's that for a fancy mixed drink recipe.

Christmas 1947, Dana Andrews, his wife and kids are on a fishing trip. 
"Stevie, [his wife] explains wants to catch a barracuda to put in his Christmas stocking. He's got it figured out that if he gives Santa Claus such an elegant fish he'll get more presents.

"Later, much later, when the dishes are washed, Dana Andrews takes off for the Isthmus in the shore boat just to prowl around and maybe drop in at the bar for a Horse's Neck (ginger ale, soda and spiral lemon peel)."

A quick search for the Horse's Neck and I find that like many drinks it can be a nonalcoholic virgin drink or mocktail as described above or it can be made with bourbon or brandy, with a kick. 

The Horse's Neck cocktail is ordered in the 1935 Fred Astaire movie Top Hat, the 1914 Charlie Chaplin silent film Caught in a Cabaret, 1934 Lloyd Corrigan movie By Your Leave and the 1942 ZaSu Pitts' comedy, So's Your Aunt Emma!

Movie stars' Bars After the repeal of Prohibition in 1933:


Joan Crawford and several other stars are now adding wings to their house to make room for bars. A sip or at most two is all that Joan ever takes but her friends will be entertained lavishly in this manner to which they are accustomed. Her barroom will be paneled in natural knotted wood and equipped completely even to full barrels of beer on tap." .... One Christmas Joan Crawford redid an entire room for use by her husband, Franchot Tone.


Prohibition was repealed December 5, 1933. Many people had a Repeal Party
 
"It was a bar if you remember that Mary Pickford prepared as a Christmas surprise present for Douglas Fairbanks only little more than a year ago. When he returned from abroad to spend the holidays with Mary the room was sealed in cellophane and marked 'Not to be opened until Christmas.' A large party attended the opening festivities, the last large party that Mary and Doug gave before their separation.

"In Carole Lombard's newly completed home the bar is done in Scotch plaid with a small upright piano finished in plaid to match. 

At Joan Bennett's and Gene Markey's the bar and barroom are amusingly done in green and white, very modern." Didn't anyone have a basement bar back then? If so it wasn't in this article.

"Clark Gable the ol' mechanical wizard has a gadget that
helps him mix his drinks."
Final Touch 6 Bottle Bar Caddy Liquor Dispenser

"At Ruth Chatteron's and George Brent's the bar has been built into an over-sized closet off the second-floor den. It is all mahogany, delicately carved and a thing of beauty in its own right. Ruth gives only small parties and has no use for a large bar.

"Bing Crosby's bar looks like a music store, with its walls papered with the covers of some of the songs he's introduced. Peggy Shannon and Allan Davis built theirs right on the edge of the swimming pool flanked by dressing rooms and glass-enclosed for comfort on cooler evenings. You can swim to your drinks - and do!"


Jean Arthur, John Wayne A Lady Takes a Chance (1943) - Cactus Milk
Remember to drink responsibly, as they say

Recipes for Cocktails & Drinks named after movie stars

Mary Pickford Cocktail:
Light rum, pineapple juice, grenadine and maraschino cherry juice shaken with ice. Served in a cocktail glass

Douglas Fairbanks:
A modified martini. Plymouth gin, French vermouth. Garnish with both orange and lemon peel.

The Tramp aka The Charlie Chaplin
[Recipes differ 1 ounce each vs ¾ ounce each]
¾ ounce Broker's London dry gin
¾ ounce Plymouth sloe gin
¾ ounce Marie Brizard Apry apricot liqueur
¾ ounce fresh lime juice
It is supposed to be pretty tart. One site suggested adding dry vermouth. 
Shake well with ice and strain into a chilled coupe glass.

An article in Slate said, that the Charlie Chaplin cocktail should be "adjusted if it is to please a palate conditioned by Modern Times," (italics added by me.) Modern Times is one of Charles Chaplin's most famous films.



Clive Brook needs to go shopping, but he's been creative in decorating his bar

Do you have a drink shaker? They come in all different shapes and sizes. 

The Barware Styles® Classic, Elegant Stainless Steel 3-Piece Martini and

Cocktail Shaker Set is a cool style. Easy to clean and it's safe to use. It gets high ratings, good comments from buyers. Great price...
Included: Free Jigger, eBook.
Not Included: Strainer, Bar Spoon/Masher or Wooden Muddler for crushing fruits, etc.

Some recipes call for specific brands. Many of the recipes can be found in slightly different versions in different places. Use the finest ingredients that you can afford, whatever is right for your budget and your event.

Next, it may not be the first drink named after a celebrity, but it may be the first one you ever had. A mocktail, it's nonalcoholic.

The Shirley Temple
3 ounces lemon-lime soda
3 ounces ginger ale
Dash grenadine
Maraschino cherry for garnish

The Roy Rogers is very similar to The Shirley Temple. You substitute cola for the lemon-lime soda and ginger ale. 

The Ginger Rogers
1 ounce dry gin, 1 ounce dry vermouth, 1 ounce apricot brandy, 4 dashes lemon juice. Pour into a cocktail shaker with ice cubes. Shake well.
Strain into a chilled cocktail glass

Will Rogers
Gin, dry vermouth, orange juice and a few dashes of curacao. 

Not necessarily old-school far as I know but The Royal Resort Hotel in Las Vegas has The Barrymore Restaurant and it offers, steady now .... The Barrymore cocktail. They say it is "a spin on the Manhattan, combining Gentleman Jack, blood orange liqueur, and orange marmalade with a splash of vermouth." 

Looks like a pretty cool place with a vintage Vegas atmosphere. Maybe the ghosts of Ethel, Lionel or John Barrymore will chat or even party with you?

The Bob Hope cocktail
Offered in 1962 Paramount Studio's commissary
It consisted of tomato juice, yogurt, a dash of steak sauce topped off by strawberries.  Interesting.

Where are the cocktails named for Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Peter Lorre? 


Nick Charles gives a lesson in shaking your martini, a different rhythm for every shake
William Powell, Myrna Loy, The Thin Man

The Jean Harlow:
Light rum, shaken with sweet vermouth. Served with a lemon peel garnish. 


How to serve them:

If you choose to drink out of a slipper or stiletto, you can say you're partying in the style of the flappers of the 1920s.

"Never serve sweet cocktails before dinner," says Claudette Colbert. "Cocktails are an appetizer and should not dull appreciation of the meal to follow. 

"We were compelled to disguise some pretty horrible stuff with syrups during Prohibition. Now that is no longer necessary, why not give the cocktail its rightful function again?"


Temperature of Wine, more

"Be careful of the temperatures of the wines you serve," is Loretta Young's warning. "Ice only Rhine wine and champagne. White wines should be merely chilled. Fifteen degrees below room temperature is correct. Red wines should be at exactly room temperature. 

"But never warm any wine too suddenly. It loses its bouquet. Just place the bottle in the dining room several hours before you need it and let it be warmed gradually." Film stars aren't the only ones with good legs. Wine can have 'legs, tears or curtains,' just some of the jargon used by lovers of the grape.

How About Ice? Anyone thinking Frozen?

Kikkerland Gentleman's Silicone Ice Cube Tray
Thinking Charlie Chaplin & Buster Keaton
or Breaking Bad?
Cool sunglasses and Bow Ties are hot

Assortment of Round Ice Cube Trays and Molds 
There are round ice ball molds, too. Jon Taffer and other bar specialists
suggest round ice cubes may be best for using in drinks. They tend to be more clear. Add something like berries? Your guests may have never seen ice cube balls or spheres.
They often melt more slowly, too.
What size do you need?
Will you use them for anything besides ice cubes? Some you can use for desserts for instance.

"Never put ice in a glass with any liquor except for highballs, rickies and mixed drinks." This is advice from Gloria Stuart. "The one cordial exception if creme-de-menthe, into which a bit of ice should be dropped."


Irene Dunne suggests you consider having beer at your next party

 

Star Wars: Darth Vader Bottle Opener

Final suggestions... 

"Never fill a wine glass to the brim," Peggy Shannon will tell you. "Part of the function of the glass is to hold the bouquet of the wine and thereby dispense enjoyment of the odor as well as its flavor. Two-thirds full is correct."

"It is criminal to gulp down good wine," John Miljan says. "You might as well swallow your food without chewing it. Wine should be sipped if for no other reason than as a consideration to the host."


Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie as Jeeves and Wooster. Do you have a good recipe for a hangover remedy?

The New Drinking Code; OK to say 'I Don't Drink'

"At a mixed wine dinner, you must never serve more than two glasses with any course." This from Hedda Hopper. "You are not striving for the stupefaction of your guests; you are merely garnishing your food.

Wine is a palatable addition to a good meal but it cannot fully disguise a bad one no matter how much liquor you serve."

The repeal of Prohibition has had far-reaching effects. For one thing over-indulgence is no longer smart. If you don't like it, stay away from it. No stigma is attached these days to the simple statement, 'I don't drink.' 

"You may be surprised at the names appearing on the Hollywood list of avowed drys. Girls such as Lois Wilson might be expected, when you think of her screen roles. But the roster also includes such names as Mae West, George Raft, Jeanette MacDonald, Estelle Taylor and Rita LeRoy all of whom if you judge by their screen characterizations would go in for the intoxicating things in life."

 



Water sommelier; Bottled Water with a Difference

Many people would probably think that water is all the same, but one Berlin connoisseur has a different opinion. Water sommelier Jerk Martin Riese co-authored a book on the subject. Die Welt des Wassers He sampled various bottled waters for euromaxx. Not sure if the book is available in English or other languages.


Modern Times Charlie Chaplin (The Criterion Collection) Stream instantly or purchase the film on DVD


Eat Drink Movie Meals Eat along with your favorite film characters - Dinner and a Movie at Home  Making movie night special: Meal, Snack Ideas, Video Clips; Some drinks

The Frog and Blue Peach, Pub Naming Ideas

Holiday Menus: Different Hollywood Stars celebrated with varying styles of drink, if you party with May Robson, it's bring your own coffee, tea, lemonade or ginger ale. But you still get jollification.


Holiday Gift Guides, By Person, Price, Popular Brands, Type of prodct, monogram, funny, etc. Retro/Contemporary, Customize

"There's Still Time: Custom Gifts by Christmas" Holiday Shipping Deadlines: When will my gifts arrive? Customize if ordered today from Zazzle. Helpful! By type of item, For Her, Him, Posters, Tablet Cases, Shirts, Gifts :: By department and then by each item

DIY Create a Unique Zazzle Drinkware Gift Item Mug 
Personalize coffee mugs beer steins, 2 color combos and frosted mugs Zazzle 

Hollywood Vintage Louise Brooks Flasks  
See additional hip flasks

Notes: These recipes originally came from a variety of sources, have been merged into this list.
Anything within quotes is as it was in articles; commentary, italics, etc.  

** Please do drink responsibly, prepare to spend the night and/or call a taxi. Many cabs, etc offer free service this time of year. There was an accident in our neighborhood just last evening. It isn't worth hurting yourself or anyone else.

Sources The Milwaukee Journal, March 27, 1936 
Movie Classic 1934 
New Movie Magazine 1935 
Slate Magazine online, About.com, flickr

Group games for parties holidays birthdays adults-kids

Games for Old and Young
for Christmas, Birthdays, parlor games for any time of year

"Here are some ways to amuse and entertain both old and young. Make an

Mary Brian, Sue Carol,
Sally Eilers, Hoot Gibson,
Jobyna Ralston, Dick Arlen,
Nick Stewart 1929

evening pass pleasantly and happy alike for hosts and friends. One of the most enjoyable ways to spend the evening is in some agreeable game."

Choose games where "all present may join and which affords the opportunity to tax the skill, education or ingenuity of the assembled company or on the other hand that is calculated to catch them in some way as to make the subject of innocent and good-natured mirth."
-- quotes and first two games from a December 1896 article

Many of the games call for getting people seated in a line or a circle. Do you have enough chairs? Have a BYOC, bring your own chair party? :-) Here are some old parlour games from the 1800s and some games suggested by Hollywood stars of the 1930s-1940s. They may just liven up your next party.

The game of memory.
Select two dozen small articles and place them upon a table. Then let the company stand around and look at them for two minutes. Then cover them up and with pencil and paper each one will write down as many of the articles as they can remember.

There are many ways you might turn this into a Christmas-themed game. How about a baby boomer game, perfect for testing our memories in general?

The Vendor
Someone begins the play by saying, "I have something to sell that begins with S'
Then the players must discover what the leader has thought of but they must put their questions directly as "Is it something to wash clothes with?" Whereupon the leader will say, "No it is not soap."
Is it something to make your teeth ache?
No, it is not sweet
Is it something to make puddings with
No, it is not Sago
The solver is then allowed to offer something for sale.



The Minister's Cat, a Victorian parlour game played in the 1970 musical film version of Scrooge. Each participant thinks of an adjective, a word to describe the minister's cat alphabetically. The minister's cat is an adorable cat. The minister's cat is a bombastic cat! And so on.... Until someone cannot think of a word to go with his/her letter and that person is out.

Ida Lupino likes to play her own version of what we used to call the Telephone game if she has more than a half dozen people at her house. She said it's because 'Hollywood is supposed to be the hotbed of scandals and rumors." 

They call their sly game Scandal. The company is seated around the room, one person at one end whispers some remark or brief story very rapidly to the person next to him or her. 

For example, "It looks like a nice day in Wichita if it doesn't thunder." Then that person whispers it to the person next to him and so on. The final person in the group announces with a straight face, it's specified, what the resulting message is. In the game they had, that comment about Wichita became, "The withes in the city will ruin the motion picture business if war doesn't stop."


Thelma Ritter, The Model and the Marriage Broker (trailer). A few lengths of rope can add some festivity to your party if you're trying to hook up some single friends. 

Ann Sheridan suggested this game for any party. She sent out cards of invitation which requested that each guest bring one of his baby pictures. each person handed photo to Ann on arrival. guests were given pencils and papers. Photos were numbered and they were asked to guess which photo belonged to whom. 

These days these are much easier to do via the Internet. You see this kind of game a lot at engagement parties, wedding and baby showers. 



Leave it to Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn in Charade to find a way to make a party game out of citrus fruit

William Powell loved to give parties. Known for leaving notes for those he cared about, he also put up witty signs everywhere at his shindigs. He told a magazine that even though he'd played some of the best detectives on screen, he was terrible at detective-type party games. He'd rather play poker.

From Judy Garland, 1939:
"Two or three small objects such as a footstool or a vase are placed in a line on the floor. The one who is called in is told that he is to walk blindfolded over these without touching them. He is then blindfolded. 

"Before it begins, the objects are quietly removed. You should see the way he steps high trying to avoid what is not there. When Jackie Moran was the victim he tried so hard not to step on the objects that he tripped himself up. This is a game that's fun for the spectators - I can't say as much for the victims."

From Jeanette MacDonald, 1935:
"Nelson Eddy introduced me to a game at my last party. The idea is you can't answer six questions dishonestly. 

"It goes like this. He pointed to my white lamp and asked that's a green lamp isn't it? Firmly and untruthfully I said yes it was. He asked two more similar things then suddenly he looked at his watch and my clock and cried, 'For heaven's sake that clock is not right, twenty minutes past one, is it?' And I bit, of course!  

Anna May Wong gave Mah Jong parties in the 1920s

Hollywood was mad for what may be considered traditional games. Card games, particularly bridge were new and played everywhere. Crossword puzzles may have been handed out or sometimes customized, blown up poster-sized and worked on as a group. 

Card games (regarding the Mary Brian, Hoot Gibson, etc photo at the top of the page.)
"Games on the floor completed the evening. Fake card games and Classification created by Charlie Chaplin at one of Mary Pickford's parties. Ten qualifications for each person. Ten points the limit for each qualification. Personality, beauty, brains, etc. You rate each of your fellow guests as well as yourself. 

"Then compare what you gave yourself with what your friends gave you. One guest awarded himself 10 per cent in brains while the others only averaged two for the same person. No it would be too mean to reveal who this was. There were a number of guests from Chicago. We'll let it go for one of them." You'd have to have a special group of people to play some of these games.
-- quote and photo New Movie Magazine holiday 1929



A game played with an earring and some string. Midcentury hijinks
Arnold Stang, Betsy Palmer, Audrey Meadows, Henry Morgan, Bill Cullen and Garry Moore are optional

Mary Astor says "Men love to dress up. They'll complain for days if they know they have to go to one but actually there is nothing that assures a party of success more than asking people to come in costume. Preferably funny costumes." Maybe some reindeer antlers?

Men vs Women Charades Christmas 1949
Barbara Lawrence, Piper Laurie, Tony Curtis

So-called children's games were popular for movie stars. In the mid-1930s Wallace Beery gave a spin the platter party. Garbo and her friends like to play a game of drop the hanky. Drop the hanky aka Drop the handkerchief is similar to Duck Duck Goose.

Don't forget scavenger hunts and charades. With all the parties in Hollywood, there were scavenger hunts that went from party to party!


Vincent Price on Pantomime Quiz
Charades on television 1951

Of course physical activity and games are always fun. "Ice skating is out since a couple of stars nearly broke their precious necks... now a fad of roller skating is setting in. Cary Grant and Virginia Cherrill started it all when their roller skating party undertaken quite spontaneously with no malice aforethought one night after at dinner at their home where a number of friends were guests.

"Slacks were donned by everybody -- some of the guests had to go home to get theirs, but Cary and Virginia had quite a supply -- and then everybody went to the Rollerdome in Culver City. Sally Blane already knew how to skate but Randy Scott had rather a tough time learning. Or maybe he only pretended not to know how so Sally Blane could teach him. Virginia and Cary are awfully good skaters and hospitably lent a hand to their less skilful brothers and sisters."
-- New Movie Magazine 1934 
 

Cary Grant (now single) and Josephine Hutchinson 1936
-- A party given by Carole Lombard at a fun house;
Cary & Josephine have just gone down a slide
[In Topper, Grant and Constance Bennett go down a slide in a nightclub]

What if the stars came to your party? 

A 1921 article from a British fan magazine suggests that if movie stars attended your Christmas party, they might entertain, or at least liven things up. Some stars were asked what they might do at a party. 

"Douglas Fairbanks was at the centre of a bunch of men. Evidently Doug was accustomed to being the life of the party for he was soon organising games that promised to break the ice of that first half-hour which is the dread of every hostess. As soon as the interest in one ridiculous game, such as blowing the feather showed signs of flagging, Doug would start something else, until everyone was breathless with laughter. 

"Just as I was wondering what we should do next, Mary Pickford made a clever suggestion. 'Let them entertain themselves," she whispered. Most of them are screen stars by accident, they can all do something else just as well as they can act. Doug will be master of ceremonies, he always is at our Hollywood parties!'

"Charlie Chaplin is so versatile that it's difficult to know what to ask for his share of the evening's entertainment. His recitations, stories and burlesques are much in demand, finally he may consent to play violin which he does very well. 

There's "Tom Mix's latest rag-time effusion, the jazz band including Wally Reid on saxophone." Tom Mix might sing some ragtime tunes. Wanda Hawley and Ethel Clayton play piano. Bertram Burleigh would entertain with some sleight-of-hand tricks. Clara Kimball Young may tell some very amusing and original stories while Sessue Hayakawa may recite Kipling's A Fool There Was. Mae Murray might dance.

13 Pc Photo Booth 1920s
Party Props
Mustache on a Stick
Bowler Hat
Ladies Cloche Hat
Mustaches Glasses
(1 Harold Lloyd type)

 Granted, this stretches the whole 'game' theme but it's a cute story. It's a short excerpt from an article about Marilyn Monroe where she was talking about her first Christmas when she was dating Joe DiMaggio. She was at the Beverly Hills Hotel, Christmas 1952. She was hoping to receive a phone call from Joe.
 
"When Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio first started going together, she was asked if they discussed baseball. She replied thoughtfully, 'The subject has never come up.' 

Since then she has seen quite a few games with Joe but doesn't quite dig it. She is not an outdoor sports enthusiast. It has never really mattered to her that Big Joe (that's what Marilyn calls him) was one of the truly great ballplayers of all time. What impressed her much more was an incident that took place last Christmas Eve.
 
"When she returned to her room after the annual Christmas party, she found a miniature Christmas tree standing on a table, a pasteboard sign on which was hand-printed: Merry Christmas, Marilyn, and Joe sitting in a chair in the corner. 

"'It's the first time in my life anyone ever gave me a Christmas tree. I was so happy I cried.' This is from the blonde who sings Diamonds are a girl's best friend."  

Links to Related Pages of Interest:

Hollywood Hostesses party dress decor menu 1930s Hosting your own party?
Consider a making it a buffet

Join these stars for Thanksgiving Dinner

Throw a Classic Hollywood Fancy Dress Party 10 Tips for Your Old Hollywood Celebrity Fancy Dress Party with the stars themselves

Desk Set: Christmas with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy



The Sunday Herald, December 25, 1896
Picturegoer December 1921

Errol Flynn party ends in brawl 1942

Errol Flynn has Fracas at 32nd Birthday Party

On June 20, 1942 actor Errol Flynn turned 32 years old. He

Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland
The Charge of the Light Brigade

threw a big party at his Beverly Hills home, 7740 Mulholland Drive to celebrate his birthday. Flynn was born June 20, 1909 in Hobart, Australia.

Hollywood celebrities were on his guest list. I'll bet he got some swell presents but this birthday party didn't end well.

Guests included Charles Chaplin**, Dinah Shore, Mr. and Mrs. Jack Warner, Mickey Rooney and other film notables such as Tyrone Power and his wife, the French actress, Annabella. 

Merle Oberon and her husband, film producer Alexander Korda and Cary Grant were there.

Not sure if Woolworth heiress, Barbara Hutton, Cary Grant's fiancee was there and if so for how long. She'd lent Flynn the use of her butler, Eric Gosta Hadler who would serve as bartender for the evening. Not long before, the papers had suggested Grant would marry Phyllis Brooks.

A fight broke out at 4:00 in the morning in Flynn's kitchen between Hadler and Errol Flynn's stand-in and secretary (his former butler), James Fleming. Supposedly most of the guests had left once the fight happened. This was just the type of so-called Hollywood scandal that the papers liked to sensationalize.

Others who were working in Flynn's house assisting in serving the guests told police that that Hadler was sober. Hutton said that Hadler was an ideal servant and too proud to drink on the job. Witnesses had different stories. ....


Errol Flynn was a panelist on the quiz show, What's My Line. Sammy Davis Jr. was the mystery guest. One woman's secret profession that Flynn and the rest of the panel (Bennett Cerf, Dorothy Kilgallen and Arlene Francis) must guess is that she makes handcuffs.

Flynn told the detective lieutenants who arrived at his home, "the fight had occurred at 4am Sunday following a celebration of [his] 32nd birthday by 75 guests from the film colony. That Hadler appeared to have been drinking. Two guests of the party Orry Kelly and Freddie McAvoy [sic]*, Flynn's house guest, gave officers a similar account.

"Fleming admitted hitting Hadler but only after the latter swung at him first.
'Hadler,' Fleming said, 'had sampled amply several drinks he mixed for the party into which he had been putting six ounces of Flynn's whisky.' ....

"Until yesterday in a semi-conscious condition, Hadler from his hospital bed denied to officers that he had been drunk at the time of the bout and was a little hazy about just what had happened. 'It all happened so suddenly I can't remember what happened.' He said.

"He even admitted that he might have provoked the encounter, recalling faintly that he called Fleming a German. 'I'm not a bit surprised about provoking it,' Hadler murmured, 'Somehow I don't have any use for the man.' But Hadler insisted he did not attack Fleming.'
-- Los Angeles Times, June 26, 1942

Errol Flynn Vintage Photo In Shower
Classic Printed From Original Negative
Early to bed early to rise

Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin on shoulders Tshirt He's a He-Man
Check out other Silent movies T-Shirts at zazzle

"Fleming related: 'He (Gosta) was mixing drinks with six ounce of whisky in them. Both Mr. Flynn and I noticed his condition and got him into the kitchen. We mixed drinks ourselves after that. But Gosta kept coming back and interfering.

"'As the evening went on he got more abusive. As they (the help) were going out the back door, Gosta shouted something at me in Swedish. I didn't know what he said but it sounded insulting. I went outside and asked him to repeat it in English.

"'Then he hit me and I struck back. The blow wasn't hard enough to knock a man down. Maybe he fell and hit his head.'

Others accused Fleming of "pestering Gosta finally chasing him out of the house" and striking him.

"Flynn himself was not available for comment, his studio reporting that his physician had ordered him to remain quietly in bed."
-- St. Petersburg Times, June 25, 1942



Cute clip from Dinah Shore Show: Olivia de Havilland talks about Errol Flynn

Hadler's injuries were so bad that there were worries that he would not survive and they'd have a homicide case. Flynn had told police he'd "retired at midnight" per doctors' orders due to his heart condition. 

Who has the best male figure in Hollywood?
Judges: Victor Heiser, MD; Alice Marble, tennis champ & boxer Jack Dempsey.
The finalists were: Johnny Weissmuller, Clark Gable, Errol Flynn, Fred MacMurray, Robert Taylor and George Brent

Photoplay magazine May 1942
The winner, Errol Flynn was chosen as having
The Best Male Figure in Hollywood

The May 23, 1938 issue of Life Magazine had Errol Flynn on the cover with the caption: Errol Flynn, Glamor Boy. A photo of Flynn with his wife said. "Mr. and Mrs. Errol Flynn (Lili Damita) are always either fighting or making up."

 
Flynn played Don Juan on screen (1948)


In August, came the headline...
Errol Flynn swears off big parties!
   
"Actor Errol Flynn made a strange vow outside the county grand jury room yesterday, 'I'll never throw another big party as long as I'm in Hollywood.... I didn't see the trouble,' Flynn told reporters, 'But I can say one thing -- it has cured me of giving parties.'
 
"A fight between his stand-in and secretary James Fleming and Eric Gosta, Barbara Hutton's butler loaned out for a party June 21 celebrating the actor's 32nd birthday. Gosta had been in a hospital until recently.

"Flynn declared he couldn't say whether either of the men was intoxicated, 'but as far as Gosta is concerned, I know that some of my guests complained that he was making pink drinks too pink.' 

"One guest muttered, he said, 'It's too bad for a bartender to be getting swacked before the guests have a chance a the liquor.'"
-- Spokane Daily Chronicle, August 5, 1942

So much could be put on the list of things better done sober. One possible moral of the story, not at all suggesting that anyone in the above case was doing anything while under the influence. But how about... 'Don't drink and buttle.'

To show how different things were back then, in a 1943 newspaper article where Flynn was charged with the statutory rape of two underage girls, the names and professions of each juror was listed in the newspaper.

No one suggested that Flynn was involved in the fight and the only guests who were mentioned even as witnesses were Orry Kelly and Frederick McEvoy. Hutton had been visiting Mr. Gosta Hadler in the hospital. 

Were the papers print more swashbuckling Errol Flynn scandal, looking for anything to print? Was he trying to live up to his image or reputation? My Wicked, Wicked Ways: The Autobiography of Errol Flynn. He was well known as Robin Hood and Don Juan.

Entirely unrelated to the June Flynn birthday party altercation, it was exciting times for Barbara Hutton and Cary Grant. They were to be married July 8, 1942. Miss Hutton would legally be known as Mrs. Archibald Leach, they said. 

Photo Director John Huston talking to actor Richard Burton The Night of the Iguana.

Errol Flynn and John Huston 1945

A few years later, there was a more famous story...
 
"Errol Flynn six-foot debonair film actor added to his exploits by tangling with Maj. John Huston, son of character actor Walter Huston in a fist fight. Two punches according to the best information landed in Huston's face and stitches were required to close a split eyebrow. His lip was also bruised. ....

"There was a party at the home of producer David O. Selznick. It was uncertain who invited whom out, but Flynn and Huston left the house and were gone for some time. 

"Huston's face was bleeding and Flynn was in 'a towering rage' when they returned, a witness said. But a friend of Huston's said he was uninjured."
-- The Pittsburgh Press, April 30, 1945


John Huston: Courage and Art Huston was a legendary film director; The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), Key Largo (1948), The Asphalt Jungle (1950), The African Queen (1951) .... He is the father of actress Anjelica Huston.


The Last of Robin Hood with Kevin Kline (Errol Flynn), Dakota Fanning (young Beverly Aadland) and Susan Sarandon (Beverly's mom, Florence) will be in theaters mid-August 2014. 

Kevin Kline also played Douglas Fairbanks in the Robert Downey Jr. movie Chaplin. It would be interesting to compare the two performances.

Kline was Otto West in A Fish Called Wanda, and John Cleese was Archie Leach. The name was Cleese's tribute to Cary Grant. John Cleese is from the same area where Cary Grant was from.

Next Short Installment:
June 26, 1942: a very excellent adventure for Archibald Alexander Leach. 

* Frederick McEvoy was an Olympic Bronze medalist, a sportsman, a playboy and good friend of Errol Flynn's. Some articles were misspelling his last name. The building that was Errol Flynn's home is said to have been torn down and since replaced.

**In case you're wondering Charlie Chaplin had recently divorced actress Paulette Goddard, the month before, June 4th, 1942. Chaplin, at 54 would marry 18-year-old Oona O’Neill on June 16, 1943 in Santa Barbara. 

The two stayed married for the rest of his life and they had eight children together. O'Neill was the daughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill and writer Agnes Boulton. Some of his children went into acting including Geraldine Chaplin and Charles Chaplin, Jr. who appeared with his father in Limelight. His grandchildren include actresses Oona Chaplin and Kiera Chaplin.

Flynn T-shirt by disney
Look at Rapunzel T-Shirts online at Zazzle

Charlie Chaplin Portrait Case For The iPad or iPad Mini by allphotos
Look at more Chaplin Cases at zazzle

Related Pages of Interest:

Edna Millay John Barrymore Margaret Mead Shrek Greenwich Village The Narrowest house in New York City : Cary Grant; Charles Chaplin newsreel....

Errol Flynn and Humphrey Bogart Glamor Boys
The label works against Flynn in 1943 court case

Dressing Male Film Stars of the 1930s-1950s, Provide your own clothes Errol Flynn, Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Robert Taylor, Peter Lorre, Charles Laughton...

The Misfits: Last film of Clark Gable & Marilyn Monroe, 1961 christening of Gable's son, (similarities) The final films of Tyrone Power Jr. and his father, Tyrone Power, Sr.