1920s Party Food and Drink Ideas for a Roaring Good Time

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Are you ready for a roaring good time? Today, I’m writing to give you ideas for 1920s party food and 1920s cocktails – for the best Roaring 20s party, speakeasy party, or Gatsby’s party ever! I even have a couple of free printables for your own 1920s party! And don’t miss the recipe linked below for our special “speakeasy lemonade.”

If you are here, you may have already checked out my first post – Host a Roaring Good Time at Your 1920s Murder Mystery Party. This post is a follow up with the food and drink suggestions. Originally, I wrote the two posts as one whole piece of content, but it became far too long so I split them.

woman in red dress holds a 1920s cocktail at a murder mystery 1920s party

From the research on 1920s liquor that I did, it seems that gin was readily available during prohibition and so were white rums which were smuggled over. Therefore, I planned our 1920s drink menu around gin and white rum.

And, of course, we had to set everything up on a “giggle water station.”

To our giggle water station, we added Coke, club soda, gin, white rum, lime and lemon slices. Most of the drinks used those basic ingredients. We also had store-bought mixers for Bee’s Knees and South Side, two popular cocktails in the 1920s.

You can easily follow these recipes for Bee’s Knees and South Side without mixers.

Giggle Water station set up at murder mystery 1920s party for 1920s cocktails ideas

Additionally, I pre-made two “house” drinks:

Check out our Prohibition Punch – made of Dr Pepper and white rum.

Try our Speakeasy Lemonade recipe! It turned out perfectly as a 1920s cocktail!

Speakeasy lemonade for 1920s cocktails ideas on a polka dot napkin

I announced to guests to serve themselves from the pitchers in the fridge. I displayed this giggle water station cocktail menu (free download below) near the giggle water station and the fridge so guests could easily see how to prepare their own cocktails.

giggle water drink menu for a 1920s party

We also enjoyed lemon drop Jello shots (brought by a guest).

man taking Jello shot from tray for 1920s cocktails ideas and 1920s party food

Free Printables for 1920s Cocktails Station

Free Giggle Juice Menu for 1920s Cocktails (as seen above and below)

Free Book Jacket for a 1920s Cocktails Cookbook (Just wrap (using tape) around a smaller-sized book and display in your speakeasy!)

Roaring 1920s Food Ideas

From my research, I found the food in the 1920s was rather unfussy with simple spices and preparations. I created a potluck list and posted in in my Facebook event group for my guests. Then, I asked each guest to comment below the post with the item(s) they wished to sign up for. (That way I could stay on top of what foods were coming and we avoided too many duplicates.)

I also told them they were welcome to bring any other wonderful 1920s food they thought of instead of one of my suggestions. Most of the items I suggested were claimed, and we had plenty of food for 29 guests.

Here is the exact wording I used in my post to the guests:

It’s almost time for our big grand opening of our brand new dining establishment! It’s going to be the bee’s knees! Let’s just all stay on our best behavior. The last thing we need is having the bulls come ’round!

1920s Themed Potluck

The speakeasy will provide pimento cheese sandwiches, paper goods, chocolate cake, and two house beverages (made with the good stuff – smuggled from overseas, in case you were worried.) Feel free to bring anything else you would like to drink.

Here is a list of popular 1920s party food ideas. If you wish to claim any of these ideas, just comment below with the number/food item so we can keep up with what is coming. Of course, you are welcome to bring anything else you think would work instead! The food in the 1920s was simple with simple spices and preparations. We will have 29 people.

1) Potato chips and dip

2) Potato chips and dip #2

3) Tortilla chips and spinach dip

4) Tortilla chips and cheese dip

5) Fruit and cheese platter

6) Meat and cheese platter

7) Finger sandwiches: cucumber sandwiches

8 Finger sandwiches: chicken salad sandwiches

9) BBQ Ribs

10) Roasted chicken

11) Potato salad

12) Waldorf salad

13) Caesar salad

14) Meatballs

15) Little smoked sausages

16) Deviled eggs

17) Veggie tray

18) Pineapple upside-down cake

19) Dessert with cherries

20) Shrimp cocktail

21) 12 pack of Sprites

22) 12 pack of Cokes

Note that not all of the items are true 1920s party food ideas…but we did have to have some filler items. Feel free to borrow my wording for your own 1920s murder mystery party – or any type of Roaring 20s party!

By the time the party started and the food started to be brought in by the guests, I didn’t have time to get any good food pictures. It was go time! These are the only shots I managed to get.

food stacked on plates for murder mystery 1920s party food

cucumber sandwiches on platter for 1920s party food ideas

Don’t Forget to Have Fun at Your Roaring 1920s Party!

Throwing a Roaring 1920s party is a great way to host a memorable event that will keep guests talking for weeks to come. Just be sure to allow yourself some fun, too, as the host or hostess! Whether you’re looking to celebrate a milestone birthday, New Year’s Eve, or just want to host a fun night with friends, this theme is sure to be a hit with these fantastic 1920s party food and 1920s cocktails ideas!