Deb,
A themed sock hop is a great idea. You could coordinate with the Music and PE teacher to have them teach a few dance moves prior to the hop. That way, when YMCA or Macarena is played, the kids would have confidence to dance along. There are so many kids dance party cd's out there, your selection of dance songs is huge. If it is a sock hop, you could award prizes for the silliest socks.

Hi deb we did a sock hop two years ago and it was so much fun! For decorations we went with black, pink and turquosie. We had three big balloon arches, our cups , napkins and table cloths were the same colors. we also picked up at a local decorating store fake vinyl records that we hung from the arches and put on the walls. I know of a school that they made a real life size car for their sock hop (out of wood, foam core, etc.) For snack we had punch but also make your own sundaes. We had dads scooping ice cream , then the kids had toppings such as chocolate chips, fudge, whip cream, m and m's, cherries, gummy worms, etc.
For fun we had the dj do contests like hula hoop, twist, hand jive, stuff from the 50's. we also had approval from our principal to have like a 50's day where the staff and kids could dress up, we had 50's trivia announced on the announcements and some teachers used the day to teach 50's history. it was alot of fun and chances are we are doing it again this year, last year we did disco!

Our school would like to have a 50's/60's Family sock hop. We are planning to have a DJ and providing snacks, but we need ideas about what would be good snacks, games & decorations from that musical era. Thanks