These incredibly strange photos were taken at the house of my paternal grandparents, Bo Williams (1910-2008) and Elizabeth Castellaw Williams (1915-1998). They are unusual for several reasons.
This was called a “Tacky Party” and was a fad popular in the late 1950s.
The woman in the middle with the flower is my grandmother, Elizabeth Williams, or “Granny,” as we called her.
Another odd thing about these photos is that it is hard to tell where their early 1960s clothing ends and their costumes begin. I am guessing most of them are wearing the glasses they wore every day.
A lot of them rolled up their pants legs like they were almost wearing shorts which is funny.
“Daddy Bo,” my grandfather, is the one second from left wearing the bow tie. I am pretty sure he is wearing makeup as well.
This photo shows off my grandparents’ den furnishings. I was born a little after this time, so I can say with confidence that most of this stayed pretty much as it was until my grandfather’s death in 2008.
Through the years, the room would fill up with lots of photos of their adult children and grandchildren, but that was about it. You can get a sense of the decor of their house in this blog entry I posted a few years ago.
I am guessing these party guests were from my grandparents’ church, Providence United Methodist Church, possibly their Sunday School Class. I can also say with confidence that no alcohol was served at this party.
Other than my grandparents, I do not know the identity of most of these people. I do know J. C. (1914-1971) and Vera Overton Shelton (1910-1990) were there. J. C. was a son of Mai Edith Williamson Shelton (1881-1944), a sister of my grandfather Bo Williams.
Somewhere in storage, I have that ceramic tiger on the table there to the right. I remember my grandparents as being very social, so its fun to them entertaining.
For more of my genealogy research, visit rscottwilliams.info.
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