Rat Pack Party At The Putaruru Hotel

An opportunity to bring out the most special hat, the needlework bag, and the sparkliest of jewellery.  Who could ask for more?

I know I have waxed lyrical in the past about the raffish faded glory of the Putaruru Hotel, and whenever I pass through that part of the country I feel the need to veer off the state highway and inspect it, just to make sure everything is still in place.

In the bathrooms there are special places set into the walls for gentlemen to dispose of the razor blades from their safety razors.  This causes much consternation as people imagine them plummeting to the foundations of the building, but perhaps there are little containers behind the metal plates so that they can be removed when full.

The fact that the Writing Room and Telephone Room still have their glass doors in place denoting their functions charms us, and the grand sweeping staircase always looked like the perfect location to take photos at a really special dress up party.

Help, I think I have entered a time warp!  Take me back to 2016 before it's too late!

This year, being a 1958 baby and turning 58 as well, it seemed the perfect opportunity and so we booked the hotel out and had a Rat Pack 58 from 58 party.  Luckily friends and family are accustomed to the command to dress up there were three other 58ers to celebrate with to make it extra special.

Here we are cutting the magnificent cake, which was kindly made for us by Lisa and Joanne, it was a lemon syrup cake and it was delicious.

All the staff at the hotel made us very welcome, in fact I think they may have been almost as excited as we were. They went out of their way to provide cocktails from the period including the Atomic Cocktail we requested, which was extremely potent.  The chef designed a fabulous menu and created his own pate along with a great selection of main courses and puddings to choose from.  The next morning there was a hearty breakfast menu also.

Mrs Peaceable brought her flowers for the foot of the grand staircase, and Lady Raglan helped out with tealight candles and lanterns to decorate the dining room.  So much help from family and friends made it a pleasure to arrange and the venue looked magnificent.

Alie Doevendans was our hairdresser for the day and gave us a creative selection of hairstyles, which was made the ladies feel even more special and period appropriate.  Some of the gents tried to muscle in on the action too but Alie had to admit there wasn't much to be done with their hair, since it was too short to style.  She kindly offered to perk them up a bit with some colour (purple and green were suggested), but they demurred.

Finally we had our wish fulfilled, celebrating on the grand staircase after thinking about it for so long.

 Men in evening dress really do make a girl feel special.

 We had the use of the splendid private bar with its gorgeous lighting and wood panelling for the evening.  

Now that it's all over we are already thinking of our next big event and wondering what to do next time.  Thanks everybody for making it such a happy time and adding to the sparkle and lustre!

A very strange thing happened at the birthday party.  One of my friends gave me this first day cover from the year of my birth, and it was addressed to a person living only metres from where I lived as a child, which she had no idea of.  I love the way it proclaims "Youth - Foundation of the Empire", which seems to have come from another age and time entirely.