The Beat Generation, an anti-conformist, mid-century literary movement. It was happening, it was cool. As much as Beatniks hated the term, it stuck, and they’ve gone down in history as crazy, hip pioneers of poetry, art and music, the perfect ingredients for a swinging beatnik party.
Invitations
Get a stack of these coasters, write on the back and hand or post out to your guests. Use extras around the house for guests to put their drinks on when it all kicks off.
Party attire
The Beatnik look was a rebellion of 1950s fashion.
Simple, clean, slick is pretty much the go. Stick to solid colours in black, white, navy or a little grey. No patterns but stripes are good.
Plain turtlenecks
with skinny jeans or simple black leggings.
Black loafers for men or solid colour ballet flats for women; or brown or black ankle boots for all.
If it’s chilly, layer up with a pea coat, bomber jacket
or trench coat.
Accessorising was way too materialistic for the Beat Generation. The only things you’d really need to get your hands on is a black beret
horn rimmed specs
or oversized sunnies.
Make-up was very minimal and jewellery should be kept to simple solid silver, and not much of it. No gems.
This is the moment for guys who’ve always wanted an excuse to grow a goatee. Or take a short cut and stick one on.
No fuss hair means a simple ponytail or wide headband.
We don’t advocate smoking by any means but there’s no harm in walking around waving a fake cigarette in a holder to emphasise what you say in conversation.
Decorations
With a Beatnik anti-materialistic philosophy, you don’t want to go overboard with decorations but a few stylish things to celebrate the influence the Beat Generation had on art will create some talking points for your guests.
Pulp or movie posters
silhouettes in a window near your entranceway so your guests can feel the vibe as they arrive.
The Beat Generation coincided with a time when society had concerns for nuclear war. Atomic age design hit the streets and became ultra cool.
Put these on a wall
add a lamp
and some cushions.
A Beatnik’s home simply isn’t complete without books, particularly poetry. Raid your local second-hand bookstores and see what mid-century books you can find. Stack piles of books randomly around the place.
If you can, sprinkle the piles with the best known authors of the Beat Generation. If you haven’t read them yet, they’re well worth getting into after the party.
Anything jazz. Sweeten up your light switches
add a clock to your wall
and capture the aroma of a jazz bar.
Bring light to a dark corner. Personalise it with beatnik lingo such as ‘Cool Cat’ or ‘Daddy-O’.
Food
The Co-Existence Bagel Shop was a home for the Beat movement although there is debate as to whether bagels were even served. Nonetheless they make a great party appetizer.
Food is mentioned reasonably often in On the Road so choose a few of Kerouac’s roadside staples. He loved icecream but that is a little tricky to serve and keep frozen at a party so just stick with cream when needed.
Coffee was a constant feature of Beatnik life. Kept them alert to write during the night, and the ideal supplement for long discussions, debates and poetry readings.
Have crackers at the ready for dips that were popular in the 50s.
SPAM boomed in the 50s if you’re game to give that a try.
If your table feels like it’s still lacking something, add some snacks that were introduced in the 1950s or early 1960s such as Voortman cookies, McCain Foods, Chex Mix, Frito Lay and Chupa Chups.
Beverages
The golden age of mixing drinks to create cocktails was aligned with the golden years of the Beatniks although that is simply a coincidence. It was more because it was before regulations around alcohol consumption.
William Burrough’s drink of choice was a Boilermaker, while Neal Cassady was known to mix a cheap Jungle Juice with whatever was at hand. Jack Kerouac developed a taste for margaritas.
It was also the time of icecream sodas and the Beats referenced them in their writing.
However, Beatniks weren’t flush. They drank a lot but they drank as cheapskates so stocking up on cheap wine and beer instead is totally acceptable.
If you do decide to make cocktails print out and make a mid-century banner to hang nearby. Stick the printed paper on thicker card so it hangs better.
Tableware
No need to go over the top. Add a striking table runner on a simple wooden table.
with some beverage napkins for guests to use while eating appetisers.
Serve something crunchy in the vinyl of a jazz great
anything else can explode with flavor on atomic platters.
Icebreakers
Limbo was a popular game in the 50s and goes well with a bit of lively jazz. All you need is a broomstick but consider having a thin mat underneath for those who are worried about falling.
Beatniks were big on poetry. Set up random objects or pictures around your rooms next to a sign that says something like; “Be poetic. Write one line about this. Put it in the envelope.” Have a small notepad, pen and envelop nearby. Later on during the party, put up some A3 paper on the wall, and have a glue stick nearby, then ask a few friends to take the lines out of the envelope and work together to form a poem from what they have. Guests can then roam around and see the different poems that have been created.
Music
The Beat Generation had a particular appreciation for bebop and cool jazz, often with overriding poetry. Not always that easy to dance to so if you want to give your guests a chance to shake it on the dance floor, mix up music mentioned in Kerouac’s On the Road and a few beatnik-themed grooves tunes with whatever mid-century hits you like to dance to.
Send them off with a smile
Give everyone a page out of an old poem book to enjoy when they wake up the next morning. (Make copies, if you can’t bear to break up a vintage book, make copies.)
If you know your guests are big readers, they may appreciate a bookmark with signature and sketch of one of the Beat greats!
