Pirate Theme Party

Ocean currents were not discovered until the sixteenth century. During that time, there was a man who served the government as a mail carrier. At some point, probably while distracted while he was thinking of a pirate party idea, he had an accident that left him disabled and unable to walk without much trouble. He wanted to continue to work for the government, but could not do it in the same capacity. Eventually, he agreed to work as a navigator of sorts for government ships. Fate had smiled upon him because he was going to contribute greatly to the science of oceanography. Once on board, he took an interest in oceanography. He started to notice that the first leg of trips from America to Europe were much shorter than trips from Europe to America. Perplexed, he took note of the matter. He started observing and noting the speed of the ship at different points of the trip, and came up with a series of charts. Meanwhile, a man by the name of Ben Franklin …… yes, THAT Ben Franklin, took notice of a conversation in a bar while contemplating his own pirate party idea. The men were quizzing each other as to why it was quicker to reach Europe than it was America. Franklin intently listened to this mystery as these men started discussing a notion that there was a river in the ocean! Franklin was a man of many skills, and an excellent scientist, so he decided to take this matter to task. With the help of the current charts that were made possible by the government navigator I spoke of earlier, Ben Franklin started to map out the Gulf Stream current. It was an astonishing discovery, and one of many contributions from the man. More on history and a pirate party idea to come.

Are you going to invite a few pirates to your pirate birthday party? Pirates did operate in the Caribbean, and many of them were from Britain, so they would have to take the Gulf Stream Highway to make your pirate birthday party. Ocean currents are caused by the unequal heating of water, and they create rivers within the ocean that can actually help a ship travel much faster than in still water. For instance, the Gulf Stream travels north up the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, which means that the water is relatively warm. That is why ocean water on the east coast of the United States is generally warmer than the water on the west coast. The California current travels south, from Alaska, and explains why ocean water in Southern California can be so cold. As for the Gulf Stream, the warm water travels north towards Canada, then makes a right turn and heads for Europe. The water is warm enough that it regulates European weather, particularly the United Kingdom. If Britain did not have the benefit of the warm Gulf Stream water, it would be much colder. The warm ocean negates the effect of the cold air and ensures that Britain has a mild climate. More to come on the history of ocean currents.

There is no getting around it. The Golden Age of Piracy was driven by a market that was …… shall we say …… a bit on the dark side. Before you consider your next pirate theme party, you should know the economics that financed the real pirate adventures of the 1700’s. Europe, at that time, controlled the world. The birth of a nation was at hand. America was a new player on the scene, but make no mistake about it, Spain, Portugal and England were the real world powers. The East India Trading Company was the first of its kind, and it ruled with an iron fist! The biggest market at the time …… slaves. Human cargo. What a horrible time to live. Lives were being bargained for dollars. At that time, a man’s wealth was judged by the number of slaves that he held. In America, contrary to popular belief, there were relatively few slaves as compared to Brazil and the Caribbean, yet history has shown the impact of the American slave trade. To this day, there are racial tensions that remain due to the business of slave trading of the eighteenth century. In fact, the first and only successful slave rebellion occurred on the island of Haiti. Today, Haiti is considered one of the most dangerous places to live in the world. When you consider your next pirate theme party, you should also take into the account the lives that drove the pirate economy. That economy ultimately was driven by sugar. Spices & sugar were considered rare commodities in Europe in the eighteenth century. When the New Word was “discovered,” it was soon learned that the islands of the Caribbean were the perfect place to grow sugar canes. The sugar cane industry was a brutal business, and people were needed to grow and harvest the crop. Many poor souls were lost in the sugar cane fields of the Caribbean, and most of them were slaves that were brought in, without their consent, from the countries of Africa. Warm bodies were needed to harvest the crop. New methods were created to make cheap alcohol through the use of sugar. That alcohol was rum ….. it was the drink that drove the pirate economy. The large sugar crops enabled the alcohol market to flourish and many profiteers took advantage of this opportunity. It was no pirate theme party. The life of a slave working in the sugar cane fields of the Caribbean and South America was short. The work was so brutal that a person’s life expectancy was cut in half. This fact was not lost on the slaves that serviced this economy, and there were many rebellions that took place because of the horrible working conditions. The modern state of Haiti was established on a slave revolt that took place in the eighteenth century. When you consider your next pirate theme party, you should remember this. The economy of that time was driven by a threefold process. First, there was the demand for sugar in Europe. Sugar was grown only in the areas of the southern United States, the Caribbean, and South America, and slaves were needed to grow and harvest those fields. The need for workers made the world powers look for cheap manpower in the area of Africa. The rulers of Africa were more than willing to sell their own people into slavery, and this completed the second part of the transaction. Finally, the sugar was eventually turned into rum. It was a cheap way to make alcohol, and there was a huge demand for a good drink in Europe, so the three fold process was complete. Europe demanded sugar and alcohol, slaves were necessary to process the business demands, and every white person benefited. Once again ….. what a horrible time to live. Just remember, the next time you plan your next pirate theme party, there were people who sacrificed everything to gain success during that time period. Any pirate theme party you plan in the future should take this history into consideration. Good bye for now. Arrrgggghhh. Later Mateys!!!!

Ahh, good ole King Neptune! I still remember the day when I became a shellback back in April of 1989. The Shellback Initiation Ceremony makes for a great pirate theme party idea. The tradition has lasted for centuries, and takes place onboard all U.S. Navy ships that cross the equator. Shellbacks are sailors who have previously been tested by the trials during a Shellback Initiation Ceremony. The other sailors, also known as slimy pollywogs, must endure a days worth of torture and humiliation. The pirate theme party includes the usual cast of characters, including scallywags like King Neptune and his trusted trident, Davey Jones, and the Pollywog Queen. During the ceremony, the ship even flies the famed Jolly Rogers skull and crossbones flag! Arrgggg. The Shellbacks all dress up as pirates and carry with them their famed “shellayle,” which is a piece of cut up fire hose used to discipline any slimy pollywog that has gotten out of line. The best part about the ceremony is that there is no concept of rank. Just like the pirates of old, the ship is run on a pure democracy. It doesn’t matter if you are brand new to the fleet or a salty dog of the seas, if you have never crossed the equator, you must undergo the rigor and horror of Shellback Initiation! The slimy pollywogs must pass through a gauntlet of shellbacks and make it out alive at the other end. For the entire day, the only way they can get around is on their hands and knees. Their clothes mark them as pollywogs and display whatever shellback owns the poor soul. The obstacle course is grueling, and includes tunnels of trash, a pool of dirty water, and even a stockade for the worst offenders. If properly navigated, the slimy pollywog is magically transformed into a trusted shellback, and becomes a member of the famed Sons of Neptune! This might be a bit rash for a run of the mill pirate theme party, but for those salty sailors out there, it is the law of the seven seas!

You can not consider a pirate theme party without considering ole Davey Jones. Davey Jones’s name has been thrown about for centuries, but has recently come up on the scene again with the success of the Disney trilogy, “Pirates of the Caribbean.” The character of Davey Jones has been around a lot longer than that, having been mentioned in several books from the 1700’s, including Herman Melville’s famed “Moby Dick.” The actual man never existed, and it is believed that the term Davey Jones was a reference to a boogie man of the sea. Davey Jones was supposed to be the devil of the sea, and sailors claimed to have seen him in all sorts of forms and shapes. This history would not be to far fetched. During that time, sailors were often at sea for long periods of time in tropical weather. They had notoriously bad diets that consisted of grains and meat that had been dried and salted. In these types of conditions, the human will respond adversely and that could quite possibly lead to hallucinations. The spirit of Davey Jones continues to live on at another pirate theme party. The United States Navy celebrates a ceremony called “shellback initiation” whenever their ships pass over the equator. The initiation is quite fun and covers many facets that I will write about later, but one of the main characters of the ceremony is none other than Davey Jones himself. The specter of Davey Jones at your pirate theme party seems quite spooky, but you could make it work. The second film from the Pirates of the Caribbean film featured Davey Jones as a hideously looking pirate. I am sure that it would be difficult to replicate this costume, but you may be able to find something a little less authentic, but perhaps a lot cheaper.

Looking to dress as an interesting character during your pirate birthday party? This fellow is worthy of your consideration. Samuel Bellamy, also known as Black Sam, was an unusual pirate captain. Black Sam was raised without a mother. She had died during his birth and Black Sam took to piracy at a young age. He began his career as a treasure hunter and not a pirate. He was married in Cape Cod, and then traveled to Florida to search for the treasures of the ocean. Before long he hooked up with Black Beard to do a little pirating. Unlike Black Beard, Black Sam was unusually gracious to his victims. He always made sure to take care of them. He did not kill them, and made sure that they were well cared for before stealing their vessels. That is where his nickname of “Prince of Pirates” came about. His crew was enamored with him and they called themselves the “Robin Hood Band.” Their biggest claim to fame was a raid on the Whydah Gally. The Whydah Gally was returning with loot from a massive shipment of slaves when Black Sam caught it. Unfortunately for him, his ship got caught in a storm off of Wellfleet Massachusetts. All but a handful of the crew perished, including the Prince of Pirates. Perhaps it was a fitting fate considering what the loot had paid for! So for your next pirate birthday party, consider old Black Sam when deciding on your character.

Racking your brain as you try to come up with a pirate birthday party idea? In this segment, I’ll continue to examine what life was like for the average pirate. Pirates were prone to all kinds of disease and danger. Fresh food was almost non-existent during the Golden Age of piracy because no suitable methods had been developed to chill storage spaces. A lack of vitamin C will eventually lead to scurvy and the loss of teeth. That must have been difficult for the average pirate considering that much of their diet consisted of dried and salted meat. That doesn’t sound very appealing to me. If the pirates were lucky enough to find a well stocked port, they might be able to catch up on their fruit and vegetable intake, but most of them chose to consume liquor instead. The liquor wasn’t just a good pirate birthday party idea. It just so happens that the area the pirates frequented was also the largest sugar producing land in the world. Much of the sugar was used to make rum. Sugar was cheap, and rum was easy to make. Perhaps it gave them a false sense of bravery …… something they’d need when taking on the British fleet!

Back again Mateys! Trying to come up with a unique pirate party idea? What about a woman pirate. During the Golden Age of piracy, only two women were ever known to serve the flag of the Jolly Roger. One of those women was the notorious Ann Bonny. Bonny was the illegitimate daughter of her lawyer father, and the family maid. This caused quite a scandal back in the 1700’s, so the father, daughter, and maid all fled to South Carolina to start a new life. Apparently, Ann was not your typical southern belle. She was completely out of control, and caroused and shot weapons as well as any boy. She fell in love with a sailor and soon left for the Caribbean. Once there, she and her husband had a falling out, and Ann left with a well known pirate, Calico Jack. They sailed around pirating and looting as they saw fit. They were eventually captured by the British, but not before a fierce fight. It is said that while the majority of Calico Jacks crew remained below decks while the fighting ensued, Ann Bonny was on the top deck, giving out all she had to the British Navy. They were taken to Jamaica to be tried and executed, but Bonny escaped the hangman’s noose by claiming that she was pregnant. Looks like she was able to escape one last time! So the next time you need a pirate party idea, look no further than the character and escapades of Ann Bonny.

“Such a day, rum all out. Our company somewhat sober. A damned confusion amongst us! Rogues a plotting. Great talk of separation so I looked sharp for a prize. Such a day found one with a great deal of liquor on board, so kept the company hot, damned hot. Then all things went well again.” An entry from Black Beard’s personal diary found on his ship, the Adventure. Looking to host a great pirate birthday party idea and need some inspiration? Look no further than the most notorious pirate of them all (non-fictional character that is). Black Beard! Black Beard was such an imposing figure that he stands in stark contrast with America’s other favorite pirate, Jack Sparrow. Black Beard was an enormous figure, and many were reputed to have surrendered immediately once they saw his terrifying face. He wore a beard that hid much of his face, and it was said that he weaved gun powder into his hair and then lit it just before a battle! Perhaps you don’t have a beard long enough to weave in gun powder, and the people at www.pirate-theme-party.com certainly don’t recommend this pirate birthday party idea (especially if you decide to light your hair on fire)! Either way, you have to admit that Black Beard must have looked truly fearsome. I certainly would not want to face with someone whose face was on fire! Some have speculated that Black Beard did this to make sure he always had a smoldering wick to set off his cannons, while others claim that it was simply a psychological ploy. If the flaming head were not enough, Black Beard also wore two swords; one on each side, but these cutlasses were not enough for Black Beard. Like a modern day commando, Black Beard also wore a number of holsters where he kept numerous of pistols. Play swords and pistols are cheap and easy to find. Perhaps a fake beard will also make a great pirate party idea. When you don your gear, don’t forget the menace who had made these props so famous!