Sixty-Five Long Years Ago I Was ALittle PrincessAnd This Was My “Six-Party”
PARTY FOR A PRINCESS
Somehow, my mother always made me feel I was the most important little girl in her
world. She never went out of her way to spoil me, yet she never missed doing the
loving “extras”. I can only hope that I have left the same feeling in my family that she left with me as I remember those early years. Like any youngster, the prime day of
the year for me was my birthday, which fell on April 2. No fool was I, but darn
close!! Mom played right along with my feeling of being special and executed a
big party for me every birthday for thirteen years. I’m sure there were family
celebrations after that, but she produced the traditional ‘invitations/decorations’ type
until I was in the seventh grade.
It came to pass that about two months before my sixth birthday, I went into the princess stage of my young life. I would dress up in one of Mom’s old dresses, put a
small pie tin on my head for a crown and proceed to reign over all the dolls at
my command. One morning in the middle of March, I woke up with the idea that I
should have a gown for my upcoming ‘six-party’. I spent the day working over Mom
and my aunt, Helen, trying to make them see that this was a great idea for a
princess. Finally Aunt Helen went up to her closet and took down a
blue taffeta gown that she had worn in a wedding several years before. “I guess
we could cut this down, don’t you think?” she asked my mother. “Yes! Yes!
Yes!” I yelled, hopping madly around the both of them. Mom laughed and
threw her hands up in the air. Out came the sewing machine, scissors and pins,
and soon the two of them had me standing on a table, all pinned up and
wide-eyed, listening to them plan my Princess Party. I’ll never forget
it.
They sent out invitations with a silver crown decoration, which
read:
“Your Attendance Is Requested At A Party
For
Princess
Joanne
On The Occasion of Her Sixth Birthday
To Be Held
on
April
2, 1942
At
The Royal Castle on 1010 Main Street”
A fever of activity (theirs) and expectation (mine) took over for the next two weeks. I
was beside myself with anticipation! On the big day, silver and blue
streamers wove their way among what seemed like hundreds of balloons that
decorated the rooms of the castle. I greeted my subjects in my lovely
blue taffeta gown and ‘silver’ tiara (left over from New Years Eve), from my
throne in the living room. It’s amazing what an armchair on an orange crate, all
draped with a red quilt, can do for the regal bearing of a six-year-old!
We played London Bridge, Catch the Prince, and Pin the Crown on the Princess–by this time I had descended from the throne to join the masses–until we were all hungry and thirsty. Aunt Helen magically appeared in front of the sliding doors to the dining room and blew three long toots on a toy horn she held in her hand. “The Royal Banquet is served!” she announced. Those were the days when a parent or two brought their child to the party and stayed for the fun, therefore many were the “ooohs and ahhhs” when we were ushered into the Royal Banquet Room for refreshments.
That banquet table: Oh My! It wasn’t a bit ‘Italian’! Tiny triangle sandwiches on sliced “American” bread with special sandwich spread fillings; little circles of banana nut bread sandwiched a luscious cream cheese and pineapple spread; bowls of potato chips and pretzels; Royalty Gelatin Salad; and a sparkling bowl of Princess Party Punch surrounded a huge sheet cake that proclaimed: HAPPY SIXTH BIRTHDAY TO PRINCESS JOANNE!
When it came time to blow out the candles, I knew that I already had my wish–
A Party For A Princess!
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PARTY FOR A PRINCESS**
MENU(NOTE: You can view these recipes by going to theTraditions/”I Smell a Memory”section of this blog – Enjoy!) BOLOGNA SPREAD TRIANGLES
PEANUT AND JELLY FINGERS
CREAMY BANANA NUTBREAD CIRCLES
POTATO CHIPS ““ PRETZEL STICKS
ROYALTY GELATIN SALAD
BLOW OUT THE CANDLES BIRTHDAY CAKE
PRINCESS PARTY PUNCH
**With just a little bit of ingenuity, this
can be turned into a delightful party for a little Prince
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