Rockford, Illinois, Spring 1965. When people hosted big, festive parties, they served dinner at folding tables in their basements. My memories of the basements of some homes is clearer than my memory of the residences' other living spaces. Most "party basements," like this one, had paneling, and many featured large, backlit murals of a landscape—usually a scene from a national park.
There are more photos from this Rockford party here and here.
5 comments:
The American dream.
The good life.
And it was.
I hope you know what a valuable document you're creating here. Too many people try to knock the 2 decades after WWII, but here you show an example of the many people who had worked hard, endured hardship, and lived with quiet dignity in the material prosperity they had earned.
Thank you.
Thanks, edutcher. Your observation made my day. Both my Mom and the hostess of this party (not pictured here) came to this country with nothing but their educations. Both women were successful professionals.
Notice the light fixture reflected in the mirror behind the stairs. It's yellow, green, and red: the colors of the flag of an independent, prewar, Lithuania.
Glad I could give you a smile.
I saw a few of those wood-paneled rumpus rooms when I was a kid and the people were pretty much the same - either immigrants or strong ethnic stock going back 100 years or more, hard working, honest, church-going, survivors of the Depression (and, in many cases, WWII), people who were mocked in songs like "Pleasant Valley Sunday" without an instant's understanding of what had been necessary to achieve those homely (if you will) accomplishments.
Mr. Irene and I share many basement memories of wonderful Thanksgivings at my cousins' house in Chicago. -Inga (daughter of Antanas whose photo is on this blog as Anthony)
Hello, Cousin Inga. Thanks for visiting. I will dig around for some more basement photos for future "Related by Marriage" posts.
Irene
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