1st Birthday – 1940s Captain America

The week we found out Lucas was Lucas I knew I wanted his nursery and 1st birthday party to be 1940s Captain America (what can I say? I’m a planner). I was rather surprised to discover there weren’t many ideas on the internet so perhaps this post will offer inspiration to others.

I created the invitation based on a Selective Service Notice to Report and personalized it with Lucas’ hand stamp.

I asked folks to dress in 1940s style and Lindsey graciously helped with my hair and make-up. This was obviously more for me than Lucas but it was so much fun! Theme parties are not to be overrated and we’ll definitely have more.

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I planned the party with the fact that Lucas is one and will not remember it at the forefront. We had over 50 guests in our less than 1200 sq. ft. house so I wanted to make sure people enjoyed themselves. Good food – fried chicken, macaroni & cheese, roasted vegetables and rolls – and prizes. This was also inspired by Kat and Melissa’s family tradition of sending guests home with nice gifts. To fit the theme we had a lottery. Each invitation gave guests a Selective Service Number (I had my own list to reference) and we used a bingo machine to call up winners.

I picked prizes to fit the range of ages at the party but tried to keep it in the era’s theme:

WW2 plane puzzle, dominoes and playing cards
Dot candies
Eleanor Roosevelt Mysteries & Ann Frank’s diary
Stationary sets with stamps
Seeds for a ‘Victory’ garden
Classic toys – stick game, yo-yo and paddle board

Even if Lucas won’t remember the party I wanted to make sure he always remembers the people who care about him, so I asked everyone to write him a letter that we’ll keep in a box for his 18th birthday. [I also emailed the text of my letter to the email account I created for him].

I shared the story about the cookie party favors on Friday. Friday evening I spent many hours decorating Lucas’ cake and four dozen cupcakes. I did a different design for each cake flavor – chocolate, vanilla and lemon.