I grew up around women playing Pinochle once a month.
Of course, my older brothers remember the 1950's card game parties...I didn't come along until much later. But the Pinochle card game gatherings continued on for 40+ years:
beyond the life span of my Mom.
The "gang" that were dear to me growing up were my mom, my future mother-in-law, and my future aunt-in-law.
Back in the 1950-1960's, you would require a necklace to match your dress or skirt and sweater, in order to attend the card party. This necklace is actually my mom's that I put on the scanner to show you. I'm sure she had the matching clip on earrings too. They are gone- who knows where.
Now every good mid-century hostess would wear a pretty apron like one of these to serve the refreshments at the card party. My brothers and I always wondered why Mom bought goodies for the night she was hosting the party that WE NEVER had. We would pray and wish that the ladies would be on a diet and be unable to eat all that Mom had purchased- and thus, leave some for us...the starving, neglected kids. Haha!!
There were some traveling sets of favorite pinochle cards that went from house to house. I found this image that would be typical of the kind they would use in that era. My mom had special bathroom towels that only came out of the linen closet for card club night!!
I always remember not being able to go to sleep on card party nights. My bedroom was the connecting wall to the living room where the ladies would all be "cackling" (as my brothers called it) until late hours. Plus, how can one possibly go to sleep when worrying if there would be pound cake with syrupy strawberries and Dream Whip, or lemon squares or Sarah Lee triple layer cake left over??!!!! Or how about the soda pop? WE never got pop!! Mom never bought it until card club night!!!
B also has the same kind of memories of card club night at his house. His mom (my late mother-in-law) would take the sheets off the sofa and the wing back chair and put out the special reserve card club night throw pillows and have special desserts. He remembers sitting on the stairs peeking through the little window opening into the living room at his house along with his siblings. They would spy to see if their mom had served all the dessert they had seen in the kitchen which was NOT TO TOUCH!! Oh the suffering of little children!
Aren't you glad you didn't have to be the one wearing something like this under
your card club night outfit??????
How about these contraptions of torture?! Comfort...my ---... (rhymes with lass)!!!!!!!
These are actual tally cards from the 1950s. Notice above it says "boobie-me". Did that lady get the "boobie prize" because she wore one of those 1950's bullet bras?????????
The 3 photos above show some more tallies from the 1950's. 