If you’ve had any historical or context questions regarding Picnic and the time period, we’ll answer them here!
Q: How was milk delivered in the 50’s?
Oftentimes, as they were depicted in the cartoons(particularly Tom & Jerry) and Golden Age sitcoms of the time, milk was delivered in glass bottles with pop-up metal caps(like the ones on glass SNAPPLE bottles). These were often contained inside of a wooden or metal crate holding six or more bottles for easy delivery by the milkman.
Rehearsal Request (pp. 37)
MRS POTTS: It’s just like a movie I saw once with Betty Grable…or was it Lana Turner? Anyways, she played the part of the secretary to some very important business man…
Lana Turner and Betty Grable were both very famous actresses from the 30’s to the 50’s, as well as pin-up models. Just based on photographs, it’s easy to see how Mrs. Potts could easily confuse them.
Lana Turner (Left), Betty Grable (Right)
Determining which movie Mrs. Potts is referring to in this monologue is a bit more challenging to figure out. Here she describes a film where one of these two ladies (or at least someone similar to them) played a “plain secretary” that the men ignored until “one day she took off her glasses and her boss wanted to marry her right away.”
She could be thinking about the film, Pin Up Girl (Humberstone, 1944) featuring Betty Grable in the lead role. The plot doesn’t exactly match what Mrs. Potts is describing, as Grable’s character has two personas she adopts to not reveal to her intended love interest that she works as a stenographer. 
From my research, I found a few other titles during this time period that might match Mrs. Potts’ description, but the “plain Jane to bombshell” formula is widely seen in movies even today (The Breakfast Club, She’s All That, The Princess Diaries, etc.), so it is difficult to tell which film she is referring to exactly. However, Pin Up Girl was an extremely popular film of the time that solidified Betty Grable’s star status, so it’s a pretty good bet that it could be the movie.
Rehearsal Request (pp. 33)
A wonderful option for Erine’s music that Millie sways to at the top of Act Two.
What Kind of Music Does Ernie Higgins and the Happiness Boys Play?
The Happiness Boys was a popular 1920s radio program known for the novelty songs of Ernie Hare and Billy Jones. Considering the time period, and the ascension of “race music” on the horizon, Ernie Higgins and the Happiness Boys most likely play some form of pop, big band, or early rock.
An example of charts pop music of the time:
“A Teenager in Love” by Dion and the Belmonts
The color of 1950’s face cream: White
Brand:
Packaging:
Color:
1950’s Facial Beauty Routine:
Lady Baltimore Cake
A Lady Baltimore Cake is an American white layer cake with fluffy frosting and a fruit and nut filling. The cake is believed to have been created in the Southern United States in the early 20th century, but its exact origins are disputed.
Delilah (Alan, 43)
Through Alan, Madge’s suitor, Inge invokes the prototypical Biblical “sex symbol,” when Alan playfully calls to Madge, “Hey, Delilah!” and later urges her on with, “Hurry it up, will you, Delilah?” (18, 43). Comparing Madge to such an iconic beauty, especially one known to be dangerously seductive, further isolates Madge from the rest of society, but again, based on her looks, nothing else. Furthermore, while Alan professes to love Madge, his love is one of objectification, placing Madge on a pedestal. He proclaims to her, “I don’t care if you’re real or not. You’re the most beautiful thing I ever saw” (32), declaring that her beauty is what is important to him, not her mind. Using the words, “beautiful thing” dehumanizes her, and robs her of any possibility of intellect. (kuscholarworks, Thibodeaux-Thompson, 8)
Delilah, also spelled Dalila, in the Old Testament, the central figure of Samson’s last love story (Judges 16). She was a Philistine who, bribed to entrap Samson, coaxed him into revealing that the secret of his strength was his long hair, whereupon she took advantage of his confidence to betray him to his enemies. Her name has since become synonymous with a voluptuous, treacherous woman. (Britannica)
Samson and Delilah is a 1949 American romantic religious epic film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille and released by Paramount Pictures. It depicts the biblical story of Samson, a strongman whose secret lies in his uncut hair, and his love for Delilah, the woman who seduces him, discovers his secret, and then betrays him to the Philistines. The reference comes from this movie.
The Stork Club (pg. 28, Irma)
The Stork club was “the slick, sexy, smoky creation of a native Oklahoman and ex-bootlegger named Sherman Billingsley, the Stork was, in the words of legendary gossip columnist and radio loudmouth Walter Winchell, “New York’s New Yorkiest” joint” (Cosgrove, 2013). This club was one of the most famous nightclubs in American history, and reigned from 1929 all the way into the 1960’s. During Prohibition in the 1930’s, Billingsley kept the club a well-hidden secret, moving twice to keep the law away and the people in. 1934 brought a move for the club to a bigger space since alcohol was legal once again and the people needed room to dance!
Frequenters to the club were huge names such as the Vanderbilts, the Kennedys or the Sinatras. You could find Marilyn Monroe sipping on a cocktail, Hemingway in a philosophical discussion, Joe DiMaggio talking baseball stats, or Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz romantically entwined on the dance floor.
(The Sinatras at dinner)
As Sabrina Romano writes in Untapped Cities, Billingsley had a very specific four step plan to ensure that his club stayed the most coveted, secretive, sophisticated, and glamorous watering hole in all of New York (if not the whole U.S.).
“First, Billingsley gave the club’s exterior a posh appearance by having a door man stand outside and admit the well-to-do by unhooking a golden chain. Secondly, he pampered the most famous celebrities by buying them booze and thirdly, he created a private room, named the Cub Room, in the already exclusive club for the most famous. Most importantly, he employed a photographer to document every night and give the photos to the tabloids. Walter Winchell, a gossip columnist, could often be spotted in the Cub Room mingling with the ‘in’ crowd. Winchell usually got material for his column from his nights at the club.”
Billingsley also had an intricate set of hand signals that he used to communicate with his staff of over 200 to indicate that a table needed more alcohol, that they should present a friend with one of his famous gifts, or that he needed to be escorted away from a conversation.
By 1953, the Stork Club was already reaching its end as Billingsley was exposed for his Anti-Semitism, racism, and hate towards union workers. However, it will always go down as one of the hottest spots in American nightclub history.
PICNIC Dramaturgy 
Thank you! All very helpful.
John
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Also, Lana Turner was supposedly discovered in Schwab’s Pharmacy at Sunset and McCadden on Hollywood.
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