For my friend Joe's 40th birthday, his wife contacted me to help plan the  big surprise.  Since Joe is a policeman and a once detective it was kind   of tricky to get him to not be suspicious.  The captain on shift that day   had 911 dispatch all officers to the location for suspicous vehicles being  in that area.  So, when he arrived he was so surprised to arrive at his   "Welcome to 1964" party.  We decorated with clusters of black and   white balloons to keep it simple, but not so boring as the same old "Over   the Hill" party.  Also using black and white napkins, plates, and flatware.    We Had a vintage display of all 1964 memorabilia, stuff we mostly  found on the internet and could print easily and put into black and white  frames that were purchased at a local craft store. Pictures of 1964 New   York World's Fair, the Presidential election, the Olympic games in   Tokyo, Japan, I also found a site that had all the greatest movies,so we   printed a list of that. etc.  We took several of the printed papers and cut  out all the different things that  happened that year and decoupaged  them on the tablecloth.  So, wherever guests sat, they could read about  something that happened in 1964. We also had framed pictures of Joe   growing up & added some black and white candles.  The centerpieces for   the tables were black and white striped and polka dot candles. We   played music in the back ground all from 1964 of course, songs like,  Pretty Woman, She loves you, do wah diddy, House of the rising sun, and  little old lady from pasadina. The cake was made by a family friend and   was of course black and white.  We also played a trivia game called You   Don't Know Joe, a spoof off the trivia show you don't know Jack. It   asked questions like what year did Joe graduate college, what high   school did Joe attend?  etc.  The cake was of course chocolate and had  white icing. We served a bbq feast, with all the sides and served chips,  dip, brownies, and other appetizers on black platters and bowls. The  party favors were of course black and white cards printed from the   computer.  I had written a verse about 1964 that said, It was the year the   cardinals won the world series, Pretty woman was a popular song, and on  Sunday nights you could catch Americans watching the Ed Sullivan   show....etc.  And at the end it had the place Joe was born and said, and   the world welcomed Joe.... on date. we punched 2 holes in the top and  tied a black ribbon through it.  These we kept on a table in a basket with  none else,but Hershey Hugs, since their wrappers are black and silver.   It was a little momento everyone could take.  Everyone had a great time   and are still talking about the great party.