Evelyn's 1930's Birthday Party

After lots of planning and preparation, Evelyn and I were ready to host her 1930's-themed birthday party today.

 What was our inspiration for such a party?  It all started one day when I was looking at Kit (Evelyn's American Girl doll) things on eBay.  I found a party game that was retired almost a decade ago, but it was right up Evelyn's alley.  The game is called "Kit's Mystery," and the party-goers needed to solve the mystery of Mother's missing pearl necklace.  The game had everything to host a party for nine total people - party invitations, name tags, skit scripts, clues and hobo signs.  The friends' invitations gave suggestions for how to dress up as the assigned character.  Evelyn carefully matched her friends with the different characters, and luckily everyone she invited was able to come.

 Over the past couple of days, we girls (and Kat) bought and made treats that were true to the Depression era:  oatmeal cookies, Ritz crackers and cheddar cheese puffs.  We set the table with Grandma Birch's china dinnerware, fancy plastic cups and pretty flowered napkins.  Everyone's scripts were set on the table, as well. 

 Kat put together an awesome mix of 1930's jazz music.  We used the tunes to start the party with a game of Musical Chairs.

 Then it was time to move into the dining room for the party's big event:  acting out the mystery game.  Evelyn was Kit (of course), Troy was Hobo Will, and Evelyn's friends were different characters found in the Kit novels. (Julia and Kat were extra party guests).  The girls munched on snacks and sipped pink lemonade while reading through the mystery.  Toward the end of the game, everyone was given a chance to make predictions - not scripted - about who they thought took Mother's pearl necklace.  The funniest suggestion was when somebody ratted themself out by saying, "I think I took it because I need money!"

 The end of the game had the girls following hobo signs through the house, backyard and the forest behind our backyard.  We honestly couldn't have asked for a better home to host this party in - the missing pearl necklace was with Hobo Will in the woods by the creek.  It was hard to tell, but I think the girls enjoyed solving a mystery.

 I planned on a few extra games to play, in addition to the 45-minute mystery game.  We headed out to the front yard for a couple of relays - a frontwards/backwards three-legged relay (one person faced forward, the other person faced backward) and a balloon relay.  There was lots of giggling and falling down, which translates to a good time.

 The last game of the day was a candy bar guessing game.  I researched when ten different candy bars were invented, and the collection consisted of five candy bars invented in the 1930's and five candy bars that were not invented in the 1930's.  The girls had fun guessing which candies were invented in the 1930's.  The added bonus was that the candy bars were part of the goody bag loot.

 We wrapped up Evelyn's party with birthday cake (Depression chocolate cake, decorated to look like a magnifying glass) and opening presents.  Good, old-fashioned fun was had by all!