Plan the ultimate The Calamity Club book club meeting with budget-friendly Depression-era food ideas and free printable party signs.

The Calamity Club – Book Club Ideas with Easy Recipes & Printables

Want to turn your next book club meeting into a 1930s style party? Steal what I did for our latest book club night. Kathryn Stockett’s The Calamity Club makes for a lively discussion. A themed gathering around the Great Depression is the perfect table set up!

To help you set the scene, I’ve put together easy recipes and free printable party signs. I hope these fun ideas inspire you to host your own book club get together soon!

Book Club Welcome Sign

To welcome my book club group, I designed a simple sign from the book’s cover. You can download all of the printables found at my party for free! Just scroll down to sign up for my newsletter and I’ll send them to you.

Birdie’s Biscuits & Jam

One of my favorite parts of the book was when Birdie would sneak biscuits and jam into the orphanage for Meg. Since that part of the story was so sweet, I had to add some freshly made biscuits into a basket along with several flavors of jams and butter. Here are my favorite frozen biscuits.

Make-Do Bites

A quick and easy idea for The Calamity Club book club meeting is to share snacks that people ate in the south during the depression. Saltine crackers, pickled okra and pickles were common treats. Add crackers into a vintage coffee tin and serve pickles on your grandma’s glass dishes.

Get my Aunt Pete’s amazing Refrigerator Pickles recipe.

Mrs. Tartt’s Bourbon Lemonade

We all know Mrs. Tartt loved her bourbon and had plenty of it! This sign is fun for plain lemonade, but if you prefer the real drink, I’ve added a recipe for you below.

Mrs. Tartt’s Bourbon Lemonade Recipe

This drink is the perfect balance between tart, sweet, and smoky.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups bourbon (a medium-bodied Kentucky straight bourbon works best)
• 3 cups fresh-squeezed lemonade (store-bought premium works great if you’re short on time, but freshly squeezed takes it up a notch!)
• 1 cup club soda or ginger ale (optional, for a little fizz)
• Fresh lemon wheels for garnish
• Plenty of ice

Instructions

1. Mix the Base: In a large pitcher, combine the lemonade, bourbon, and club soda or ginger ale. Stir well to blend.
2. Chill or Serve: If you’re making it ahead of time, pop the pitcher in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.

Meg’s Boringest Book Cookies

For a simple dessert, I added cookies into my vintage cookie jar and called them Meg’s Boringest Book Cookies. If you remember from the book, Meg told Birdie when she was starving and forced to eat her mother’s book, that it was the most “boringest book” she ever ate.

Easy Homemade Cookie Recipes:

• Easy Red Velvet Cookies
• Best Lemon Cookies
• Softest Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Cozy Cake Mix Pumpkin Cookies

The Calamity Club Vintage Centerpiece

This vintage centerpiece was created with items from my Great-Grandma Chunky’s suitcase. In the 1930’s Chunky was the same age as the characters in The Calamity Club. I had fun styling her photos, jewelry, stockings, hand written recipes and hats as the table’s centerpiece.

Free Printable Book Club Food Signs

Download The Calamity Club book club meeting signs below. They are free for you to enjoy!

-> CLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter and I’ll send you what I created for my own book club night. If you use them, I’d love to see! Please tag @LivingLocurto on Instagram and I’ll share.

More Recipes for The Calamity Club Book Club Meeting:

• Grandma Chunky’s Chocolate Pie
• BEST Refrigerator Pickles Recipe
•  Coconut Cream Pie Recipe
• Irish Apple Cider – Another great bourbon drink!
• Bacon Lettuce Tomato Dip (BLT Dip)
  

Share the fun!