Depending on foil for Independence Day

This is it! Here comes the holiday 401 Party and Holiday Ideas from Alcoa (1971) has been waiting for!

Since the fourth is so often centered around grilling, this is the only holiday featured in the book that really makes sense to be foil-centric. (It skips Labor Day.) Here is the glorious foil-filled spread:

Foil on the table! Foil on the grill! Foil on the wheelbarrow! Foil drums and rockets! A big foily something-or-other that red-shirt girl is peeking at when nobody's looking! I suspect she's eyeing the ice cream:

Yes, you'll notice scoops filling a foil half-ball that looks suspiciously like the bottom half of the one in the picture above. It looks like it's all vanilla and strawberry, so I'm not sure why she's bothering, but I guess somebody must eat the varieties that make me wonder why anyone would waste calories on them.

If you want to know how foil will magically keep the ice cream frosty (or how you can turn a paper towel tube into a rocket), here are Alcoa's instructions:

I'm not sure I have as much confidence in foil, ice, and shade as Alcoa does, but that's life.

If you need a cute idea for snacks, the pretzel drums are pretty sweet, even if we would have to turn to the Christmas section to get the actual directions:

Completely covering the table in foil seems like overkill, but if you fold it right, it won't blow away. The book also points out that hosts can "make the clean-up easy ... by placing empty containers and other leftovers on the table and simply roll[ing them] into the foil tablecloth." So it's practical! Or at least Alcoa says it is.

I was under the impression that grills usually came with lids, but apparently not? The picture to go with this recipe for Barbecued Broilers shows a lid made from foil:

And there are instructions to make the lid by molding ten layers of heavy-duty foil around the grill itself. I'm not sure how well it would work, but it's definitely a good plan to sell a ton of foil.

There's so much foil that this section even ventures into suggesting a few recipes that don't require it. I guess Alcoa figured they should show a little balance.

Macaroni stuffed tomatoes only require tomatoes, macaroni, cheese, and condiments-- no foil at all!

And here comes mom with her foil-free contribution.

How'd you get here, mom?

"I carried a watermelon!"

No matter how you get there, make your week shinier with a big roll of foil!