Speaking of 40+ kitchens

[spiceman1957]

I have been watching old episodes of "Mad Men" and noticed that one of the main male character, Don Draper lives in a beautiful house, gorgeous wife, and 2.5 kids, but has one of the worst kitchen I have ever seen. The kitchen looks like something you would see in a middle income family, not someone who is in management of a advertising firm. These people even have a maid. The show creative consultant should have looked at Mrs. Stevens' kitchen.
John

 

[tomturbomatic]

This is a regrettable, but true, situation as far as the kitchen goes. Often, when there was help in the home, the kitchen and laundry area were not upgraded since the wife did not have to actually work in them. The other, more cruel reason for this, was that there was nothing to be gained from buying more modern equipment for workers who, the prevailing wisdon went, would probably only damage or break it. Like I said, sad.

 

[vacbear58]

The bewitched kitchen ...

This and the other Bewitched kitchen thread had me watching the first five episodes of Bewitched tonight. In the second episode it states that 1164 Morning Glory Circle is newly built and thus one would expect all the appliances to be brand spanking new and state of the art for the time. I am not aware of any reference in the seasons of Mad Men which have aired here, of how long the Drapers lived in their house, but it appears to have been some time so the kitchen set would be expected to be somewhat older, although if I remember right someone said a dishwasher was added between season 1 & 2
Al

 

[ironrite]

Here's a link to some photos from Mad Men. Scroll down a bit and you can see the kitchen as well as other rooms in the house.

On various Mad Men sites there's been lots of discussions on the accuracy of the sets. One thing I noticed was when Don Draper got his Cadillac, it was mentioned it was a Coupe Deville, however they used a 61 Series coupe. In the next season though it appears Mr. Draper may trade it in for a red Imperial convertible.

http://www.exquisitefunction.com/?p=1380

 

[rp2813]

I think the Draper house is older, probably a 20's or 30's vintage. The kitchen had a re-do at some point, but it clearly didn't happen in 1961. Up until I read Tom's statements, I also was wondering why the Draper kitchen wouldn't have been more up-to-date.

It was only this last season (1963) that the refrigerator was updated to what appears to be a frostless model. Keeping Tom's observations in mind, I don't know what's behind that because old fridges run forever and the previous one would have likely been no more than ten years old.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Refrigerator

Maybe they needed a larger box (!?) to better hold food for entertaining. Also, not all old refrigerators lasted forever. Things could and did go wrong with them. It did not even have to be mechanical. Sometimes, someone could hit the open door and break the opened freezer compartment door or something gets dropped and a crisper cover is busted; good excuses for getting rid of something old. Worse, sometimes there were defrosting accidents and the sealed system got punctured when someone used an ice pick instead of a spatula on the evaporator. Finally, it might just have been that the wife saw a new box in a friend's kitchen and decided that she wanted one also in which case, the old one could be put in the basement or garage for extra refrigerated space. Think how nice it would be to have a way to chill those salad plates for a dinner.

 

[maytagbear]

One more possibility

regarding the new refrigerator......it could be that Don's agency got an appliance maker's account, and the top executives were supplied with a machine from the new business's line.

However, what do I know? I saw the first three episodes of Mad Men, and decided that it was not a series I would probably enjoy, except, perhaps, with the sound off.

I grew up around many heavy smokers, and to me smoking is unpleasant, not glamorous.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[rp2813]

It also crossed my mind about the possible free fridge related to a Sterling Cooper client.

I'm with you 100% Tom. There has been plenty of refrigerator abuse out there over the years, and likely many a frustrated housewife who was saddled with the task of defrosting one time too many. Ice picks served as an express ticket to a brand new frost free model. Things were just so proper in the Draper house that it's hard to imagine prescribed defrosting practices weren't followed by the help, but some other mishap could have done in the old box.

Considering the fact that the show is popular for its interiors, you'd think they'd have worked the new fridge (and I guess dishwasher) into a story line since everybody was going to notice it. But then again, not all Mad Men viewers belong to this web site, do they?

Ralph

 

[ptcruiser51]

Admiral Television

was one of their accounts, wasn't it? Peggy bought a new Admiral TV for her mom. In the 1960s they made other household appliances too.