One of my goals for 2024 was to be more timely in my posting… Well, here we are more than a month later and I’m only just getting around to posting about the 1940s Ball my boyfriend and I attended in June. But better late than never, I guess! I knew I wanted to share more pics and details about this very fun local event (check out the Reel I made—at least that was on time).

The 1940s Ball is a nonprofit that puts on two events each year, the summer 1940s Ball and a 1940s White Christmas Ball. The summer ball is held at the Boulder Municipal Airport and includes all sorts of fun activities, photo-ops, and entertainment. According to their website, a portion of ticket sales are donated to local veteran and history organizations. I actually heard about the event from a targeted ad on Instagram (what do you know, sometimes they actually work) and knew I just had to go.

What to Do

I was shocked to read the online schedule a few days before the event and see all the fun activities they had! The event took place over a large plot of land, with several stages that had different entertainment throughout the night. I spent some time the day before the event scrutinizing the schedule to decide which activities and shows were a must for me—because you really can’t do it all! I highly recommend prioritizing activities in a list on your phone so you know where you need to be and when to make sure you don’t miss anything (though I have to admit, several of the events did not take place when they said they would online).

Entertainment included the Glenn Miller Orchestra and the Satin Dollz, among many others. These performers were located on the main stage, which had a Polynesian South Pacific theme and a Bob Hope impersonator as the MC. I absolutely loved the Satin Dollz, a female trio who sang songs from the era and impersonated the voices and movements of 1940s singers perfectly. They were so fun to watch—it really did feel like we had stepped back in time! And the best part was that they and several other entertainers (including Lucille Ball and Rita Hayworth impersonators) actually flew in on a retro plane on the runway right next to the stage, though not standing on the wings like I had secretly hoped…

At the main stage was a large dancefloor where several people were swing dancing, and it only became busier throughout the night. There weren’t very many seats near the main stage, so if you wanted to watch the performers your options were to stand or dance along to the music. The event also offered swing dance lessons at one of the smaller side stages, though most people looked like they really knew what they were doing. My boyfriend and I thought we were pretty good dancers until we got out there and saw everyone else!

The event also included a veteran tribute board, a chance to practice “on air” radio presenting on real 1940s broadcasting equipment, several old cars and planes to look at, a base camp set-up to learn what it was like as a soldier in WWII, and a drive-in movie theater, which showcased fun clips from movies, commercials, etc. to give you a sense of what life was like in the 1940s. They also offered several contests, like a pin-up contest, costume contest, and swing dancing contest—none of which we entered. Additionally, there was a scavenger hunt where you could participate in various activities around the grounds to win prizes. I was really tempted to do it (anything for a prize, right?) but ultimately decided I wanted to enjoy the event and be in the moment. It was the right choice—I think the scavenger hunt would have made me feel stressed and like everything was a “to-do list” item rather than something to enjoy.

One of the highlights of the event was the veteran tribute and actually meeting a WWII vet (!!!). During the tribute, I heard that one of the veterans in attendance, who was 100 years old, not only still drove his car but also still flew his plane! I couldn’t believe it. We also had the chance to meet a vet who seemed so happy and excited to be in attendance. He was being driven around on a golf cart, and my boyfriend and I were standing in the way. When we moved, he thanked us and excitedly said, “Oh, you two look so nice! Are you brother and sister?” Ha! We giggled as he drove away. Later, we saw him busting a move on the dance floor with the biggest, sweetest grin on his face.

What to Wear

The people watching was entertainment enough because everyone was absolutely dressed to the nines! It was so fun to see the incredible 1940s fashion, lots of which was true vintage. I even overheard one woman saying that she was wearing her grandmother’s WWII uniform—how cool!! The costume contest winners are in the pic above. All of their outfits are authentic (from left to right: 1940s Western wear from Montana, a WWII nurse uniform, a Korean War era navy uniform, and a Mexican Zoot suit). Several women wore pin-up style dresses like mine, but there were also more casual and more formal dresses. Additionally, there were lots of uniforms, including vintage nurse outfits. Some women wore gloves and pillbox hats, and of course everyone had big victory curls!

For men, I saw several uniforms, suspenders, and bowties. My boyfriend decided to wear this cap he had from a different costume, which I think might be more 1930s but still looked great with his outfit. I also saw a handful of Hawaiian shirts. There were even a few costumes—one couple was dressed as Captain America and Peggy Carter! I also saw a few women wearing A League of Their Own costumes.

I immediately knew I would wear this black and white polka dot dress to the event, which was a hand-me-down from my cousin and the dress I wore to my high school graduation. I paired it with pearl accessories, bold red lipstick, and the cutest striped bow heels. I also tried styling my hair by looking at a few vintage photos. I slept in overnight curlers for a tighter curl and then attempted victory rolls with the limited resources I had, using a ton of hairspray! I was feeling proud of my hair, especially having not watched any videos, but once I arrived at the event all of my satisfaction washed away. Everyone else’s hair looked INCREDIBLE! I was truly amazed all night. I don’t know if they’re wizards or if they paid for someone to do it at a salon, but either way, everyone looked gorgeous. I realized my hair was giving more “Whoville” than 1940s.

I decided not to bring a purse, which was a risky choice but I didn’t want to worry about it while dancing. Ultimately, I’m not sure if it was the right decision because there were several photobooths and I didn’t have anywhere to put the photo strips. I’m also sure my boyfriend was annoyed having to hold my phone and ID in his pocket all night…

Despite reading several times on the event’s website that you should not wear heels, I decided to ignore the warnings for the sake of the outfit and photos. Not surprisingly, my feet were killing me by the end of the night. This was a very long event (starting at 4pm, ending at midnight) and there weren’t very many seats. That’s a long time standing, especially in heels! I decided to bring my red flats just in case and was SO grateful to learn that the event allowed re-entry. About two-thirds through the night, I hobbled back to the car and changed into my flats. What a relief. Although, later in the evening while doing some Charleston kicks on the dancefloor, one of my shoes flew off and in slow motion flew end-over-end into a woman’s head. Thank goodness she wasn’t hurt, but perhaps shoes with a strap are the preferred choice…

I would also note that the ground of the venue was very dusty. My shoes were disgusting by the end of the night, so keep that in mind if you want to wear something that’s hard to clean!

What to Eat and Drink

Since the event started at 4pm, we knew we would be eating there and saw online that they had a variety of food trucks available. We decided on BBQ and enjoyed our meal in the seats in front of the “drive-in” movie theater.

As for drinks, there were only two bar areas where you could redeem your drink tickets (you had to buy drink tickets either online or at a separate booth first and then go to the bar). Unfortunately, the lines were always very long and took quite a while to get through. The bar had a couple of cocktail options and then a typical beer and wine selection. I was shocked to learn that you had to pay for water, though! It was very hot at the event, and with all the dancing, I could only assume several people were becoming dehydrated, myself included. I really wish they had had free water stations throughout. The worst part was waiting in a really long line, getting up to order, and realizing we had to go buy a water ticket first just to wait in line again.

What to Bring

Here’s what I recommend bringing to the event, either on your person or in the car:

• Extra flats or sneakers to change into, if you decide to wear heels.
• Band Aids in case you get blisters.
• Water—I believe I read you can bring an unopened water bottle into the event, but if not, having water in the car would save an expense.
• Sunscreen—even though we got cloud coverage later in the day, I wish I had worn sunscreen for the first couple of hours!
• A cigar, if you’re into that sort of thing. We saw several people smoking but never saw a place you could buy one.
• Sunglasses—I decided to leave mine in the car (for the sake of photos) but kind of wish I had brought them.
• Cash—the service was really bad at the airport so pretty much all the vendors only accepted cash!

How Much It Cost

For as much fun as we had, it turned out to be a very expensive night. The general admission tickets were $100 per person, which is comparable to other events I’ve attended, like the Denver Mini Derby. However, the Denver Mini Derby tickets include an open bar, whereas at this event, drinks were an additional charge. Beer and cocktail tickets were priced differently but I think they were somewhere around $10 and $12 a pop, respectively. We also ended up buying water at the event, which was another couple of dollars. Thankfully, parking was free, but dinner at the food trucks was an additional expense, around $22 a person. So overall, we spent more than $350 combined, which felt like a lot… but, the event lasted 8 hours, so that’s about $22 per person per hour. I’m really glad we went, and we had a great time. However, I’m not sure if I would go again. If it were a little cheaper, it would be a no-brainer—but to spend that kind of money again on the same event? I’m not sure it’d be worth it.

Other Details

Here are a few other random tips and details that I forgot to include elsewhere:

• We arrived right when the event started at 4pm and had to wait in line for a few minutes. I’m glad we arrived when we did because we got to get in line for all the photo-ops while they were still relatively short. However, the event is so long that we were definitely ready to go by the end (in fact, we left an hour early). On the one hand, I wish we had showed up a little later and stayed until the end. But on the other hand, I’m really glad we arrived when we did so we didn’t have to wait that long at the photo-ops. The lines were ridiculous later in the night! We also got parking much closer to the entrance than we would have if we showed up late, which was a nice perk. I think arrival time just depends on your priorities.
• Apparently tickets sell out every year, so if you’re interested in going next year, I recommend purchasing early! You also get the added perk of a closer parking assignment and any-time entry (whereas other groups could only enter after a certain time).
• I kind of wish we had gone with friends. While there were several photo-ops (either photo booths or someone standing there to take your picture on your phone), it would have been a lot easier to have friends to take photos for us. I never have much luck asking strangers for a pic because it’s never really the framing/angle I want.
• The bathrooms were just porta potties. Lucky for me I’m a master holder so I never had to use one!

All in all, we had an absolute blast stepping back in time and swing dancing the night away. If you decide to attend the 1940s Ball next year, I hope you learned a thing or two in this post so you don’t make the same mistakes we did! If I do attend again, I think this dress with the vintage clutch and gloves that belonged to my grandma would be a fun outfit. I would just need a pillbox hat to complete the look!

 

Miles of smiles,

Grace

 

Dress: Hand-me-down, last worn here | Heels: DSW, $40 ($6.67 per wear), last worn here