The 1950s have been much more than poodle skirts and saddle sneakers. The era was stuffed with dinner events and adventurous dishes, too. Need proof? Simply flip through a vintage cookbook brimming with crowd-pleasing recipes for pupu platters, Spam loaves and frankfurter casseroles. These throwback recipes are the right inspiration for throwing a 1950s dinner get together. Delivered to life by a era of homemakers on the cusp of a fast food revolution, midcentury fare embodies a time when residence-cooked meals had been the norm -- and served with gravity-defying Jell-O salads, in each candy and savory varieties, on the facet. In any case, during this decade a typical day began by frying bacon, poaching eggs, flipping pancakes, baking apples, brewing espresso and pouring milk. And that was simply breakfast. On a Wednesday. You'll be able to imagine what dinner should have been like. To get you began, we're sharing our high five tips for throwing a 1950s dinner get together; it all begins with a few retro recipe sources on the following web page.

The first rule of a 1950s dinner party? Set a busily beautiful table and prime it with elaborately designed, delightfully low-brow foods. We're speaking broiled grapefruit, Jell-O molds, cheese-stuffed celery stalks, deviled eggs and pimiento-stuffed olives -- arranged in patterns, placed on tiered servers, layered to improbable heights or speared with frilly toothpicks. Move on to the main course with more purely '50s fare, like hen divan, tuna casserole, Swedish meatballs or pineapple-Spam kabobs. Dip items of pound cake and fruit into chocolate fondue for dessert, or serve up slices of a mile-excessive chiffon cake. Make your 1950s dinner celebration authentic by scouring vintage cookbooks for recipes. You can find them for resale online and from used bookstores. In addition, plenty of basic cookbooks have been resurrected for reprinting. The 1953 edition of "The higher Houses and Gardens New Cookbook," for instance, is once once more on the market -- and on the shelf at many public libraries. There are several Web sites and blogs dedicated to midcentury recipes, simply discovered by a Google search.

Your favorite food and recipe magazine might have a web-based archive that dates back to the 1950s. Or, you may ask your mother or grandmother for a few household favorites from her recipe collection. This precooked, processed combination of meats (principally pork) was compressed and canned for consumption. In style in Hawaii and tailored by American cooks for trendy Polynesian-fashion dishes, Spam was a mainstay of many postwar kitchens. Within the 1950s, themes had been the factor. Midcentury partiers had been mad for Hawaiian -style luaus. And you will be, too -- if you are open to a liberal smattering of kitschy decor to set a tropical mood. Set up a tiki bar and serve umbrella drinks in coconut containers. Hang reproduction posters from the 1950s that depict Hawaiian travel, and decorate tables with ukuleles, palm fronds and pineapples. If you are feeling really formidable, the desk centerpiece can double as the primary dish: roasted pig.

For a fitting soundtrack, play "Lovely Hula Hands" by Bill Campbell, "Tiny Bubbles" by Don Ho and, of course, "Blue Hawaii" by Elvis. For style inspiration, revisit "I like Lucy" reruns or watch "To Catch a Thief," the 1955 film starring the iconic Grace Kelly and Cary Grant. Your Hollywoodesque menu would possibly embrace duck a l'orange, French-style green beans and blowjob blini canapes (topped with caviar if you are lifeless set on extravagance). Play a big band soundtrack featuring a crooning Bing Crosby, and be sure to have a few Martin Denny tunes readily available. Yes, Denny was identified as the king of the tiki hut, but he'll still present the best vibe to set the 1950s mood, whatever theme you select. Choosing the correct garb for a 1950s dinner get together would not require a freshly tailored vintage outfit. But you could overlook what you find out about "casual" attire -- at the least for a few hours. Today's casual dinner events might allow khaki shorts, bowling shirts and flip-flops, but other friends would have been aghast should you'd darkened the doorway of a midcentury bash in such an ensemble.