Mad Men

[little-edie]

greetings! though i've been visiting this site for ages, i've just finally signed up. i'd resisted joining because i have no old washers or dryers, though i do have a few old things(but i love old appliances, some might say i am one). the reason why i write is to tip off anyone who doesn't know about the series "Mad Men" on AMC that y'all should probably check it out. i would think that lots of members would love it. it's all about the mores & manners of men & women, circa 1960 and takes place within the world of advertising...NYC....madison avenue, but the creators take special care with all the details. the show has a fabulous "look". anyway, what made me think of this site was an episode a few weeks ago when the protaganist's wife took herself to new places, using her lurching maytag washer as the rocket. if this is all old news to everyone...sorry.

 

[rp2813]

Mad Men came up in a thread recently on the "Super" forum and there was some good discussion about the series. I have only watched two or three episodes and will be pulling it from my "on demand" menu so I can start from the beginning.

So far the only thing I've seen that's glaringly not 1960 is the "T-bar" ceilings in the office scenes. They are way too modern for 1960. I believe someone here pointed that out in the other thread. My sister said she caught a Nixon reference that wasn't correct for 1960 so I'll be watching for that, but over all they have done an excellent job in capturing the look and feel of 1960. A recent article about the series mentioned that even the slacks worn by the men have a higher waistline and that the actors are constantly being advised to pull their pants up. Let's hope this level of attention to detail continues.

Interesting contrast between the sleek modern look of the office environment compared to the rather frumpy knotty pine and frilly cafe curtain decor of the home kitchens that was so pervasive in 1960. It's like the main character becomes an entirely different person when he steps into his home environment simply as a result of being exposed to the decor.

I think it's unanimous that the cigarette smoking is overly gratuitous. I'm thinking that the motivation behind this is to demonstrate just how far we've come (some might say too far considering my own town just passed an ordinance against smoking in city parks) with regard to regulating second hand smoke.

You may have gotten more replies to this if you had posted it in the "Super" forum, as off-topic posts don't receive much play here in the "Imperial" environment.

 

[neptunebob]

I'm glad I am not the only one who has noticed the ceilings and lighting at the Sterling-Cooper office. I don't think those ceilings came along until the mid 60s. Also, the panels and the light panels are so white and clean - Go to any office or store and you will never see such nice ceilings in real life (dust, grease, burned out bulbs) and with some much smoking, how do they stay so white?

 

[little-edie]

YES! i thought the ceilings were wrong as well(& interesting that the director chooses to capture the ceilings so prominently). my reccollections tell me ceiling tiles might have been more the norm. though we can't know when these make believe office buildings were built, they'd probably have been fairly new, hence the cleanliness of the ceilings, vents. of course, with all that smoking, things do get filthy quick. as for the smoking, as an ex-smoker, the show may look unrealistic, but i think it's pretty right on. in my smoking heyday, i had cigarettes burning as votives! the more the better! and as for those pants getting hiked up.....youbetcha. maybe dan will buy a new suit and get asked which side he dresses on.

where i should initially post wasn't all too clear to me. i chose imperial because of my mentioning the maytag washer as vibrator. i had searched for "mad men" but i guess hadn't searched in the correct category. thanks SO much for replying. after checking back & finding no reply, i kind of quit checking, a wee bit dejected. i was disappointed & surprised. this site, at least from my outsider pov seemed quite friendly, so i figured i'd erred was doomed.

 

[rp2813]

I agree, Bob. The ceilings should be the old acoustic tiles with the little holes in them and have something like the long narrow flushmount fluorescent fixtures with louvers and curved reflective backing such as many 50's and early 60's vintage department stores and offices had. Or hanging fixtures like in a classroom.

And the big round registers that would for sure be caked with yellow residue from all the nicotine being expelled by virutually every last employee!