Suits Meet Flapper at Thanksgiving Dinner, 1956

One of my favorite photos shows my maternal grandfather, uncle, and aunt at a very memorable Thanksgiving gathering of the Farkas Family Tree.

The family tree association, founded in 1933, had been getting together for Thanksgiving dinners for more than two decades. 

In 1956, the setting was the Hotel Gramercy Park in Manhattan, convenient to Farkas relatives and in-laws who lived in and around New York City. For this dinner, attendees were asked to come in costume. Many worked hard on elaborate (sometimes outlandish) outfits.

As shown above, my Auntie Dorothy Schwartz (1919-2001) dressed as a flapper. The two men with her wore suit and tie for the occasion: Her father, Theodore "Teddy" Schwartz (1887-1965) and her brother, Fred Shaw (1912-1991). My aunt all dressed up as a flapper makes me smile!

Here's another fun photo from this same batch of scanned snap shots, both colorized using the fantastic photo tools at MyHeritage.

During the dinner, costumed attendees paraded around the room in competition for the crowd's vote of "best costume." My Dad (Harold Burk, 1909-1978) dressed as a hayseed (he's at far right). Although he didn't win, he had a grand time working the crowd for votes.  

Amy Johnson Crow provides prompts for every week of the year in her ongoing #52Ancestors in 52 Weeks program. This week's prompt is "Favorite Photo."