A: You’re probably thinking it took place in a frat house, right? Well, there’s no doubt that the famous scene in the 1978 frat-house flick Animal House inspired 10,000 University of Wisconsin students to don bed sheets and leafy headwear for their very own version of a toga party later that year.
In fact, that’s exactly how the late-1970s pseudo-Greek revival was born. And while the fad phenomenon was widespread enough to warrant coverage in Newsweek, it wasn’t actually America’s first brush with bacchanalia. In fact, one of America’s first-known toga parties took place in the White House! Even stranger, it was organized by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
Truth be told, though, the toga party was more of a political statement than a theme. The fact is, clever Eleanor was using the Greek garb mainly as a way to poke fun at her husband’s Caesar-like reputation.
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