There was a time when it was possible that someone might refer to me as a…you won’t believe it…as a “Party Girl”. I know, I know. I said you wouldn’t believe it.
Wait a minute! *insert screeching brake noises here* I just looked up the definition of Party Girl from several sources: The Urban Dictionary (absolutely not printable on my blog), Merriam Webster, Wikipedia, etc. not one gave me the definition I thought applied to the term. I just asked He-Who his definition. He agreed with me (I know…it is a rare thing). Our definition of a Party Girl is someone who enjoys going to parties and perhaps indulges in a few too many libations. Although in this case, at the party I was going to tell you about, I had very little to drink. Not that I didn’t do my share of drinking at parties but at this particular soiree, I was working. Which brings me back to the most common definition of the term, Party Girl…”an attractive young woman hired to attend parties and entertain men”. I was working at the party but I was not hired to attend or entertain men. The truth is I was working for free. Why do I feel like I just dug this hole deeper?
The group of friends I spent most of my time with liked to have house parties. Not just any kind of house parties, but themed house parties. Now these themes usually involved costumes. When people go to great lengths to create costumes for a themed party they often like to have photos to remember the occasion by. I was still making my living as a Photographer so it was implied that I would bring a camera and preserve the moment for future generations. This happened to be a St. Valentine’s Day Party. Now before you let your minds wander back to the beginning of the post, this is not what I am talking about.
I’m not even talking about my own personal favourite for Cupid, Pygar from Barbarella…
No. Not that at all. Think more like this…
That’s right. We decided we would dress for the infamous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. I had intended to tell you how it remains the most notorious gangster killing of the prohibition era. I would have explained that the massacre that occurred at 10:30 a.m. on February 14, 1929 made Al Capone a national celebrity even though they could never prove he had anything to do with it. I might have even explained how two of the killers were even dressed as police officers and after the slaughter in the garage behind the offices of S.M.C. Cartage Company at 2122 North Clark Street in Chicago, the fake police were able to lead the other gunmen to freedom by pretending to have them under arrest. I think we are past all that now.
We created a staging area in the home the party was at. One complete wall was done up as “The East Side Garage” and we had bullet holes sprayed across the wall. The costumes were of Gangsters and Gun Molls. I brought in my studio lights and my Hasselblad and was able to get some pretty good quality fun shots. I’m the sober one holding the camera.
Those people knew how to party! However, I will never again call them Party Girls, Party Boys or Party People.