My birthdays are always themed parties, usually by decade (the 90s, 20s, etc.). We dress up, take pictures, and grab a bite to eat, but due to the pandemic, I wasn’t sure if I was even going to have a party at all! Then, I stumbled upon some images of the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, and I was inspired to have a covid-modified 1918 birthday party!

We first met up at an antique shop to take pictures with some period pieces.

The owners were very nice and let us take pictures holding their vintage cameras

The squad at a Victorian Home

Our second stop was at a turn of the century home (now a museum). The building was closed, but we got plenty of excellent photos in front of it.

The sepia filters with scratches and texture really brought all the pictures together

Recreating the iconic Spanish flu photo

Image credits: California Revealed

Our last stop was to the train tracks to recreate the iconic photo of citizens in Mill Valley, CA, during the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic.

Original photo(left) take by Raymond Coyne on November 3rd, 1918. Our picture was taken by my best friend 102 years later.

To-go boxes

After all our photo stops, I handed out to-go boxes I decorated myself to share treats with my friends! I used regular shirt/gift boxes and glued pages from an old book on top of them to get an antique feel. I printed mask ads from 1918 on top of some sheets and stuck on skeleton key and vintage-style stickers from Michael’s.

Treats

Since we couldn’t eat together, I made these treat boxes for my friends to enjoy. All the foods were things available in 1918.

Soda- Cheerwine (est. 1917)
Candy- Mary Jane (est. 1914)
Mints- Lifesavers (est. 1912)
Sandwich- Curried Egg Sandwich (recipe from a 1912 cookbook called “Mrs. Rorer’s Sandwiches.”)
Cookies- Oatmeal (most popular cookie in the US at the time)
Cake- My own recipe
Snack-Crackerjack Box (under the napkin, est. 1896)
Pigs in a Blanket- (origins go back to the 1600s, but were mentioned in late 1800s newspapers as “sausage rolls”)

Those who had to go virtual dressed up and sent in their pictures, and I added them all into this one-shot. I sent/dropped off their treat boxes, and then we all got together for a virtual watch party of a period movie using rave.io.

I was so happy, even my grandparents, who couldn’t join us for photos on the day, got dressed up and took a picture(they’re on the far left!)

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