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Wednesday, February 25, 2015

· Foyle's War Party! ·


Last month, Kathryn and I hosted a Foyle's War party!  Or rather, Kathryn hosted the party, and I was the trusty sidekick. (personally, that's my favorite role anyway! :-) )

Foyle's War is a British TV show set in the Hastings home front during WWII.  It follows a police detective throughout the war years and covers many aspects of wartime life and crime.  My family have been big fans of the British show since we discovered it several years ago, and we've slowly recruited fellow mystery/history buffs to our Prestigious Fan Club.  Kathryn and I had talked about throwing a Foyle's War themed party for a long time, but we finally got around to it this winter!

The evening was filled with mystery solving, WWII food eating, movie-based trivia, photobooth posing, and general merriment! :-)


Each guest was given a "ration book" with trivia questions inside.  We had fun watching the show to get ideas for trivia questions, but consequently the trivia was not for the faint of heart.  But really- who doesn't know the names of all the Assistant Commissioners mentioned in the series?? ;-)



We tried to squeeze in several episode references throughout the evening, so if something seems... odd... that's probably the explanation. ;-)  Consider this your excuse to watch the show!

Drinks served:
Uncle Aubrey's Green Gage Wine
(or: sparkling pear juice)
Scotch
(or: sweet tea)

Kathryn and I had a blast going through old propaganda posters to choose some to print off.  We decided against the more, ahem, intense ones. ;-)


Even the prep was fun!  We made bouquet garnis for the Coq au Vin- I'm a fan.  If cooking involves cute little arrangements tied up with bows, count me in!!


We had a photobooth set up with props, and all had a blast goofing off!

I wore my "surprisingly pleasing" 1940s dress, and my friend Grace borrowed my very first 1940s dress!


The ration cakes (both strawberry and chocolate) were a fun challenge, and mostly successful. ;-)  It was very fun to follow historically accurate recipes, though!



Would you just take a whiff of that onion?!?  Scrumptious!

One of the Foyle's War episodes discusses the ration on onions.  I had no idea why until we researched it- apparently onions were rationed, not due to a shortage, but as a ruse to trick the Germans into thinking the British were using onions as a vital ingredient in making explosives.  The plan was codenamed Operation Omelette.  No kidding!  Personally, I think I'd be a bit unimpressed that the only reason I wasn't able to have onions was to trick the Germans....


My parents- aren't they cute?!

The resident maids.  Or at least they played maids in the murder mystery game we played at the beginning of the party. ;-)


Kathryn and I spent the entirety of a day (and a portion of the one previous!) constructing and assembling the patriotic bunting!  We didn't intend for the room to be so very decorated that it was reminiscent of the Police Station on the eve of VE Day, but once you start.... it's hard to stop. ;-)  And really, you can never have too much bunting.

This project was a wake-up call to me, though.  I love the way it turned out, and I'm glad we did it that way, but it was so. much. WORK.  Each of the pennants is cut from 2 pieces of fabric, sewn on 2.5 edges, turned out, pressed, and strung on a piece of string.  Oh, and did I mention that we made 100 feet of this?!  After we were 2 hours into the project, our insanity dawned upon us.  After 10 hours, it was inescapable.

As it is, we are now completely prepared for any red, white, and blue themed party.  Fourth of July- check!  Bastille Day- check!  Australia Day- check!  Norweigan/Icelandic/etc national celebrations- check!


Me and my partner in crime- thanks so much for making this happen!!  It was a blast to plan! (and attend!) (and relive through pictures!) :-)

I credit Foyle's War entirely with making me tolerant of the 1940s.  Previously I was decidedly unimpressed with the decade and particularly WWII.  I know, scandalous. ;-)
But at any rate, Foyle's War changed that for me.  Learning about the British home front during the war years was enlightening and opened up a much more interesting aspect of the war!  If anyone also has a distaste for WWII (or even if you already like it!), I'd highly, highly recommend the show. :-)

· Photos by Kathryn ·

22 comments:

  1. That looks like so much fun, Lily!! You two did such a wonderful job decorating and cooking. Now I want to make a bunting. Just because I need one. ;)
    I've never seen Foyle's War, but I'm definitely going to look into it after hearing about it!
    I just love all of the pretty dresses that I see in the pictures! Your parents definitely are cute. I'm going to have to make my dad get his dress hat out! ;)

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    Replies
    1. Esther, you certainly don't need an excuse for bunting! It's an excuse all in itself. ;-)

      Hope you enjoy the show!

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  2. I so want to be a member of the "Prestigious Fan Club"! haha We've got Foyle's War on our Netflix queue so I should soon be able to join the ranks. ;)

    Oh my, what fun that all looks! The bunting is adorable! (And NO you can't have too much!) My sister, Beth, got me some paper Emma Bridgewater Union Jack bunting for Christmas. (From England, what?!) Yeah, she's a good gift giver.

    I just love 1940s fashion & am working on a "Your Victory Jumper" from a free WW2 pattern from the Victoria & Albert Museum website! (Although, I'm not making it in red, white, & blue...)

    Great post. I really enjoyed seeing all the little details you gals put into everything. Kinda makes me want to have a themed party! Hmm... ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We'd be happy to induct you into our honorable society at your earliest convenience! ;-)

      Yes, you do have a *very* good gift-giver for a sister!

      We should have a Poirot tea sometime!!

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  3. What an awesome idea for a party! Looks like everyone had a wonderful time. :)
    -Emily

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  4. Looks like so much fun! I really love historically themed parties, and yours looks perfect. All the dresses are so lovely too!
    I know it's a comedy and not entirely historically accurate, but have you ever seen "'Allo 'Allo!"? It's a British series from the 80s based in German-occupied France during WWII, and it always always makes me smile!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! :-)

      No, I haven't heard of that one before- I'll have to look it up! ;-)

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  5. SO MUCH FUN!!! I would totally love to go to a historically themed party, and this one is just MADE by all the fabulous details (and bunting)!

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  6. Lily,
    What a great party! I love Foyle's War, although I admit I have no idea what any of the Assistant Commissioners' names are :(.

    I started following your blog because my teen daughter, also Lily, has fallen in love with 1950's fashion. Vintage fashion is hard enough to buy under normal circumstances, but my Lily is 5'11.5" and very short waisted, so custom sewn is really her only option. I just finished her the Tia Dress pattern from Sew Chic (http://www.sewchicpatterns.com/tia.html) last week, but I am still working on the crinoline to make it look as it should.

    Anyway, thank you for your blog and especially for the all the details and photographs on it.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for your comment, Robin! Your Lily is so fortunate to have you to make her fun clothing! All the best to you both! :-)

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  7. So fun!! LOVED the post, Lily! :)

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  8. Adorable! It looks like it was very well attended! How nice to have such a "bosom friend" (as Anne of Green Gables would say) living close enough for such endeavors. Thanks for sharing the joy with us!

    Best,
    Quinn

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    Replies
    1. Quinn, Indeed! We're thankful to be able to do such crazy things while we can! ;-)

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  9. This looks like so much fun. I really like all the finishing touches you did to make it authentic to the series. Some great outfits too.

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  10. Looks like a great evening! What a wonderful thing to pull off! :D

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  11. Wow, that looks like a fabulous party! All that bunting making really paid off, it looks super & so do everyone's outfits. I think it's neat you have so many people that really get into the themed party idea ~ ❤

    xox,
    bonita of Lavender & Twill

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  12. Thank you all so much for the comments! This was a blast to pull off, but oh-so-fun to share with you all, too! :-)

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  13. I second Kathryn - you guys are so cool. :) It's one of the great injustices of this life that I'm banished so far away out here in the Great Perpetually Winter Tundra - I wish I could just scurry off and play with you all!

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  14. What fun! You can tell you put a lot of love into this event. I've had this show in my queue for a long time, but will have to check it out soon. (Speaking of WWII British dramas, I just finished the first season of Home Fires and loved it.) Oh, and red, white and blue are also colors for the Puerto Rican flag! :)

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