Playmates' birthday parties are the major social events occurring in children's lives. Parties are the best excuse for getting dressed up. The birthday girl would usually get a new dress, and do her hair up with cutsey ribbons. Patent leather Mary Jane's were common either in black or white or in pastel pinks and yellows. Birthday boys often wore a suit from their collection of "Sunday best" outfits. The children who attended the parties were dressed almost as formally as the child throwing them. As the years have gone on, the attire has tended to get a lot less formal. Kids in the eighties often just wore their play clothes to parties, and the birthday girl or boy would perhaps get a new informal outfit to wear on their birthday.
Another trend that has lost
impact
over the years is the high adult to child ratio. In the fifties it was
not uncommon for parents to stay at the parties that their children were
attending. Children became friends because they lived in the same
neighborhood, and grew up together. The parents were also friends, and
therefore were comfortable having a cup of tea together while their
children played. In more recent times, children make friends outside of
their neighborhood. Their best friends may be from the daycare they
attend, in which case it is likely that the parents do not come in
frequent contact with each other. Therefore when it is time for the
child's birthday party, their friends' parents just drop them off at the
party. Parents, mothers more now than ever, do not have the casual time
to spend getting to know the families of their children's friends.