On September 21,  I did a different kind of celebrating of the Fifties.  On a quiet Sunday afternoon,  Don and I visited Little Rock Central High, where 9 brave and determined African American teenagers attempted to go to school, 57 years ago.  They were banned from attending that first day, by the Arkansas National Guard.  To protect the students from mobs of angry protesters, Eisenhower eventually called out the US Army's 101st Airborne Division to escort the students into school.   

With my often silly focus on the fifties, it was nice to celebrate something really meaningful for a change... to celebrate the amazing young people who made a big impact on the desegregation of American schools.

Not every friend is willing to go along with my fifties celebration using curlers.  (Even fewer friends are willing to go along with capturing the moment with a camera.) I gave my friend Christy the ultimate friendship test by asking her if she was game to go along with some curler fun.  Since I was visiting her home from out of town, we were "having a sleepover" so that added to the retro feel.  We stood in front of her powder room mirror, gasping with laughter at our incompetent attempts at beautification.  The wine we'd enjoyed on the patio a bit earlier helped us find the whole thing more amusing than it should have been.  Our hair-dos after the curlers?  Not worth recording!

If I lived in The Village in the 1950's, surely I would have had some bongos. Maybe I would have used the rhythm to accompany a little poetry.  No poetry for me today, but I celebrated the Beat Generation by pounding along with an old album titled "Skins".  It had a 10-cent tag on it from when I bought it at a St. Louis thrift shop in the 1970's.  (Why? Because I was talking an African dance class in college and I thought I could practice. ) So here I am in a black turtleneck, beret and bare feet, drumming on the floor.  Could I fool anyone with this photo? No.  I don't look serious enough.

I had fun picking out recipes from a 1954 cook book. I made sure not to alter any of the ingredients, so I got the true flavors of the time.  Which meant the eating of the meal was a comical reward after my cooking efforts. "Mmm, my this is bland." 
Don made retro Whiskey Sours to enjoy with my fine appetizer dip (Cream cheese, Roquefort, Worcestershire, olives and paprika) It had no flavor, nor did the celery and saltines.  Then we sat down to our colorful Orange Snowflake Salad made with Jello, cottage cheese, onion, ginger, celery and pineapple. (Not a keeper) Then a dull tuna casserole with chip crumbles and no special seasonings. Finally some tea with our Fruit Icebox Cake, which made good use of more pineapple bits, marshmallows and graham crackers.  
We enjoyed the retro fun of it all. But sadly the leftovers never got eaten!