Hogan’s Heroes/Welcome to the 40’s Birthday

This year is a big milestone for my husband…turning 4-0! I had asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday and he had no clue so he told me to ask our boys. I did, and their unanimous vote was for Daddy to have a Hogan’s Heroes birthday since “Daddy loves Hogan’s Heroes and watches it every night to go to sleep!” Well, it actually fit pretty well since it was set in the 1940’s and he was hitting his 40’s so I ran with it! And oh boy did I run with it! The first part was to find a venue and after some looking and researching, I found the Currahee Military Museum had an event space and in some of their pictures was a display area that looked identical to one of the huts in Stalag 13! I called them up and made a reservation, then things started getting super exciting during the brainstorm process!

The event space didn’t really showcase the Hogan Heroes/World War II era look I really wanted but the museum did. So how could I get everyone to go through the museum to enjoy it, learn and explore while also making it to the event space? I knew the decoration would be super simple after watching the show several times and seeing the red and white checkered tablecloths for everything and simple centerpieces etc. I wouldn’t be able to hang stuff from the ceiling and was limited on the walls so I wanted to really highlight the museum even more. Then the idea occurred to me: have everyone “escape into Stalag 13” and make it through the tunnels and have to gather various things or clues so that they can escape out of Stalag 13 at the end and have paperwork to be processed as “German civilians”. Thus, began a very detailed process of creating a scavenger hunt and escape room using the things found in the museum then having tools in the event space to help them with some of the clues. I then developed a clipboard packet that had an envelope including identification papers for them to fill out and get their instant photo taken, ration coupons for their meal, codes to help them solve some problems, a telegraph from “Mama Bear” to “Goldilocks” and of course their “search and rescue” scavenger hunt fill-in-the-blank sheets. I had such fun with it all and thought the museum could really use it to create more interaction within the museum by doing something similar with some slight modifications. So I presented my packet and the idea to them, to which they loved it all and we worked out a wonderful trade for me to help them plan some activities and events along the same lines in exchange for the event space and day tickets for our guests! I couldn’t be more excited! And our guests got the chance to explore the museum that many didn’t even know was there and make plans to return again to spend even more time! I can’t wait to help in more museum planning and already have a lot more ideas brewing for them!

But back to the party! Once you made it through the “tunnels”, we had the 1940’s brass swing music playing, a big open dance floor for those wanting to give it a whirl (my husband and I actually did try to learn some swing since it’s been since college when I went swing dancing and my husband had no experience whatsoever with swing!). The food menu was straight out of 1940’s: meatloaf (which was an experiment and made up recipe that is now my favorite meatloaf! I will share on a separate post!), mashed potatoes, a sausage casserole with corn, cabbage, carrots, and onions, homemade applesauce, an old fashioned 1940’s fruit compote recipe I found, salad with dressings to represent the Italian spy, Lebeau’s French, and Ranch since Hogan, Kinch and Carter were Americans, mini strudels and a bag of jellybeans because Sgt Schultz was always being bribed by those, cherry lemonade for a red punch (which my mom and I made completely from scratch the night before by juicing lots of black cherries and making it into a type of syrup), rolls and of course cake. The cake was one I actually struggled with for a while to figure out how to decorate till I got inspired in the middle of the night when I realized I had a car that looked just like the staff car in the show in our basement. I like simple, put stuff on and done, kind of decorations when I make cakes so I was pleased at how well the simplicity of it turned out.

The next big detail was to make the favors. What could be better than American Red Cross packages (one per family) stuffed with things you would actually find in a care package? So I made the label, found some boxes, stuffed and included a clue that they would have to find in there once they deciphered their clues, and then tied it up with jute. They turned out super cute and inspired the museum once again to offer boxes like it for sale in their gift shop! I even had a little note inside to say “Sorry, the Germans confiscated some of your items, so you have a few things missing.” Since there are just some things the care packages had I just couldn’t put in there.

As for some of the other little details, I designed some napkins and had them made from www.simplytoimpress.com because my design wasn’t accepted by several other websites. I had wanted it to take up the whole napkin but was pleased nonetheless considering it was the best option available. The table where the American Red Cross packages were, was my main Hogan table with pieces you would really only understand if you watched the show. Things like the “water can periscope” in the barrel (which was also a part of the escape room tools), cigar box, electric pot, radio, pickelhaube with point that came off, and other little things. The big sign at the back of the room I painted to say “Happy Birthday Adam” to mimic the “Happy Birthday Adolf” party sign in one of the episodes. Then there was lots of pewter! I wanted to use poppies for the flowers, but unfortunately they were out of season and the next closest thing was red ranunculus. I also used an easy lock mechanism on the door that needed a key. Once that final clue was solved, the team had to use another tool in the room to retrieve the key and then, at last, open the door. I do wish I could have done a better job of making it more of a team effort to solve the escape but I also knew not everyone would necessarily participate. Those that did though had a lot of fun!

After building up a relationship with the museum staff, they were even willing to let my husband find a few reenactment uniform pieces to wear as well as carefully allowing me to use a few decor pieces to incorporate.

In the end, it was an absolute blast and we had so many afterwards saying how much they loved it and had such a fun experience!