Sandwiches with Ham and Cheese, Vita Juice and Music from Gramophone Records: Celebrations of Children's Birthdays in Belgrade during The Period of Socialism

Abstract

The paper presents the results of our research on the social and cultural practices of celebrating children’s birthdays in Belgrade, the capital of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Children’s birthday parties are examined as a social construct with functions which are developed and modified according to their social and cultural significance. The research on this cultural and social phenomenon is based on the analysis and interpretation of the narratives (empirical material) of our interlocutors. The chronological frame extends from 1945 until 1991, i.e. over the period of the socialist social system. Since the majority of our interlocutors spoke about the way birthday parties were celebrated in the 70s and the 80s, i.e. at the time of their childhood, the research is focused on that period of time. In Yugoslav and Serbian socialist society this was a social and cultural practice with multiple functions: it served as a substitute for the religious customs related to childbirth and the baptizing of children; it homogenized the family and kinship structure; it was a channel for exteriorizing parental affection towards the children; side by side with the transformation into the consumerist society it became the instrument for creating and consolidating the complex net of social relationships which informed the broader social environment about the level of financial and social power of the organizers.