Overview

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  Fifty years of life--half a century--is something worth celebrating. Surprising the honoree with an unexpected party adds an extra touch of fun to a birthday that some might find a tad discomfiting. Focusing on the number 50 will help you come up with a variety of festive, themed ways to celebrate the guest of honor's five decades of life.
  
  

1950s Party

• Even though the guest of honor was not yet born in the 1950s, a party celebrating that decade can make an entertaining 50-themed tribute. Surprise the birthday celebrant with a wrapped package containing a retro letter jacket with an invitation to a “sock hop,” which will start immediately after he opens the package. Decorate a friend’s home or community hall with black cardboard records dangling from the ceiling, along with pink streamers. A DJ, professional or amateur, can play 1950s music.
  
  

Movie Trailers Party

• Capitalizing on the number 50, use the Independent Film Channel’s “The 50 Greatest Trailers of All Time” as the basis for a movie party. Invite the birthday celebrant out to the movies, however, instead of going to a theater, take her to the home of a friend who has a large TV that's hooked up to a computer with an S-video cable, available at electronic stores. Serve popcorn and movie candy while playing the trailers throughout the evening. Try to watch all 50 in honor of the birthday celebrant.
  
  

Advice Party

• A simple dinner at home becomes a '50 birthday celebration when additional guests begin arriving at dessert time, each one bearing a scroll--advice to the newly minted 50-year-old in the form of a rolled-up piece of paper tied with a ribbon. This idea is based on the book, “50 Ways to Leave Your 40s: Living It Up in Life's Second Half,” in which Shelia Key and Peggy Spencer present a plethora of advice and anecdotes. The book itself makes a good group gift.
  
  

50-cent Piece Party

• Check with your bank well ahead of time to acquire enough 50-cent pieces to provide one for each party guest. Include a 50-cent piece in each invitation with directions for the guests to bring “something that’s worth 50 cents” to give to the birthday honoree. Additionally, ask guests to dress in outfits from the birth decade of the guest of honor. As an extra themed touch, challenge the guests to find cars they can rent from the decade to drive to the party. Guests also bring refreshments that cost less than 50 cents in the guest of honor's birth year. For example, in 1963, California grapes sold for 12 cents per pound and Colby cheese went for 39 cents per pound.