The Last Speakeasy Chicago Prohibition Party

Party like prohibition is going out of style.

Other people do fancy things. Other people go to those kind of parties that cost $50 to get in. Other people get gussied up to go to a museum event, like the Last Speakeasy Chicago prohibition party, on a Thursday night.

Other people.

I don’t. I am the kind of person who sees people doing fancy things, who sees people spend $50 on a party, who sees people getting gussied up for a museum event on a Thursday night and thinks, “other people do that.” Other people.

So, even though the CTA was plastered with ads for the Chicago History Museum’s “Last Speakeasy on the Eve of Repeal” party, a party celebrating the end of prohibition in the early 1930s, a party, at a museum, that cost $50, that required getting dressed up, in 1920s flapper style no less, I thought that was something other people did.

But my friend Shanna bought a ticket and posted about it on Facebook. And I said that it sounded fun. And she said I should get a ticket. And so I did.

And then I immediately panicked because I realized it was the same night as Peter Pan Live! on TV because watching a broadcast of a musical on TV is the kind of thing people like me do. And then I just assumed that the speakeasy prohibition party plans were all going to fall through and I had just wasted $50. And I didn’t even know how to dress for a speakeasy party so I bought a flapper dress, a black fringy thing, because it was half price on Black Friday. But then I didn’t take the tags off until I put it on to go, just in case. And then, on the night of, I put a sweater over it because my arms are too flabby right now to handle spaghetti straps and because I thought maybe I’d be overdressed, because, again, I had no idea what to wear to a speakeasy party, and worried that no one else would dress up.

And then I got there and felt like I was one of the least dressed up women there. There were high heels and sparkles and jewels and feathers and pearls.

But I went to one of those parties, one of those fancy things that cost $50 and required me to get dressed up to go to a museum on a Thursday night. The Chicago History Museum prohibition party. And it was fun. And I drank too much whiskey punch, and I gambled away all my chips betting on black 13, and I ate everything, and I listed to a big band. And I dressed up in a fancy flapper fringy thing.

And it didn’t really feel like something other people did. It just felt like something people did.

But next year I’m wearing heels.

Photos from The Last Speakeasy Chicago Prohibition Party:

The Last Speakeasy Party is held every December at the Chicago History Museum. Visit their website for details and tickets. The Chicago History Museum is located at 1601 North Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60614.

The Last Speakeasy: party like prohibition is going out of style. The Last Speakeasy on the Eve of Repeal 1920s party at the Chicago History Museum

Bucket List Idea: Attend a Prohibition Party. | The Last Speakeasy: party like prohibition is going out of style. The Last Speakeasy on the Eve of Repeal 1920s party at the Chicago History Museum

Affiliate Link