Jan 312012
This post was inspired by a comment made by Smiler G (http://www.lippsisters.com/2011/04/26/flashbacks-2/). During the past four seasons, Mad Men has covered many real world events, such as the 1960 Election, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the bombing of 6th Street Baptist Church bombing in Alabama, the Kennedy Assassination, and other real world events. What event(s) would you like to see the characters of the show react to? We know that season 4 ended in October 1965, and have no idea when season 5 will start. For purposes of this post, everything between October 1965 and present day is fair game.
I’ll bet there will be a reference or two to the NY Jets and Broadway Joe Namath.
The other night, I watched a documentary on HBO about Namath. I recommend it to Mad Men viewers because there’s lots more to him than just football.
When he wasn’t throwing a football, he was part of New York’s classic nightlife scene in the late 1960s. When he wasn’t doing that, he was filming commercials for everything from Schick Electric Razors to Beautymist Pantyhose. In a photo used on the cover of Sports Illustrated, he’s seen standing in Times Square, with a huge neon ad for Admiral Televisions in the background. He even co-starred in a film with Ann-Margret.
It was like a little reference-filled preview for Mad Men, especially if we pick things up around ’66 or ’67.
I think it was in The Suitcase when there was a pitch for Samsonite with Joey acting the part of Joe Namath and Don said that he didn’t like Namath and that endorsements were lazy. Sometimes Don who can be so spot on (Kodak) can be so wrong.
I had forgotten about the Namath mention during the Samsonite pitch. Until I saw the documentary, I hadn’t realized how many commercials Namath had done in his heyday – and the film only mentioned a handful of them.
A side note: Wouldn’t Jimmy Barrett’s commercial for Utz potato chips be an endorsement? Don (or somebody) must’ve liked him enough to sign him to do the spot.
You are absolutely correct to bring up the Jimmy Barrett spot — we do know that Don can be inconsistent, too!
Jimmy Barrett wasn’t supposed to be a big name, until he got that Candid Camera knockoff. He was doing his schtick on those commercials, not being a celeb.
I worked in advertising too where I saw bias by some creatives against using what’s known as “borrowed interest” to sell products. Joe Namath selling pantyhose would be the epitome of borrowed interest, as are most celebrity endorsements. Someone like Don would definitely think it was lazy creative, as he so stated.
In “The Suitcase” Don expressed disdain for both Namath and Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali. Clearly these flashier, new-age athletes weren’t for him. But there’ll be plenty more where that came from.
But Barrett wasn’t just an endorsement; it was a comic doing his comedy schtick. He didn’t just endorse, he performed.
I posted before I saw yours, sorry.
I was surprised that they didn’t reference the 1964 World’s Fair.
Me too!
Actually, Don made a passing reference to it. He said to Lane, when PP&L nixed the Madison Square Garden account, “it will be the biggest trade show in history”.
In 1966 -
January 29th – The Road Safety Act is passed which leads to the use of the Breathalyzer (watch out Don)
April 21st – An artificial heart is installed in the chest of Marcel DeRudder in a Houston hospital (Roger, there’s hope for your damaged heart)
August 5th – Groundbreaking on the World Trade Center takes place. (SCDP ponders the impact)
October 7th – The ‘hippie’ drug LSD is made illegal in California (Sorry Stephanie)
The Beatles have their last official concert at Candlestick Park (Sorry Sally)
1966 was also a banner year for pop culture, and since Bobby and Sally watch a lot of television, here’s some of the shows they may be watching.
Batman ( it was everywhere, Harry Crane would kill for this time slot)
The Monkees
Star Trek
The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.
(and at Christmas, the debuts of ‘The Grinch That Stole Christmas’ and ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’
SCDP should pick up the Dolly Madison account)
And in 1967:
June 5th -The 6 Day War between Israel and the Arab nations of Jordan, Syria, and the United Arab Republic. I remember as a kid saying “at least it was only 6 days’)
John McCain rescued in Vietnam
June, Pop Tarts Introduced
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is released in the “Summer of Love”
August Thurgood Marshall becomes first black Supreme Court Judge.
Expo “67″ Opens In Montreal (Maybe it will involve Megan?)
Closer to home, the Summer of Love was also the Long Hot Summer. Riots in Newark lasted a week; 26 people were killed, 725 injured. Half the town burned down and hasn’t quite come back yet.
Small (10,000 protestors in April ’67) but local. Abe takes Peggy to one of several Central Park “be-ins”. Some grist for drama there between Abe the radical and Peggy (who probably voted for Goldwater).
Summer 1967 – on the radio (or her HiFi) – Sgt. Pepper playing in Joyce’s apartment (is she too cool for that iconic LP?). If they can play Satisfaction – they can play With a Little Help From My Friends (though, Within You Without You would be more Joyce)
17NOV1968 – The Heidi game: NBC interrupts the Oakland Raiders–New York Jets football game to broadcast Heidi. Crane loves the Jets and is upset – but gets over it when he realizes he bought ad time for the Heidi slot.
One week later, Roger and Jane (Joan by then?) take an unexpected trip to Havana when their NY-San Juan flight is hijacked. Roger, thinking fast, mails rum and cigars to the office.
Probably too obvious and not until S6 or S7 – Woodstock in August 1969. Sally might go, with Glen – she will be 14(?) and he will be 16-17(?).
(one of us should add Sally to the Bible)
Interesting, in light of several Season 1 episodes focusing on Nixon/Kennedy Campaigns/election, there was no focus upon the 1964 election in an subsequent Season/Episodes.
I think in Old Kentucky Home they make small talk about Rockefeller, his divorce and quick marriage to Happy, and how that means they’re stuck with Goldwater. The ’64 election was a landslide for Lyndon.
Pete later mentions LBJ indirectly, saying that, like the president, he turned chickenshit into chicken salad.
Eugene Hofstadt 3 (love that moniker):
You are right that there was no “focus” on the 1964 election. S4 starts a few weeks after the landslide Johnson win. Perhaps this was because Bert Cooper – old guard republican – could not muster up enthusiasm for Goldwater.
I recall one other, oblique, look back at that election. Stan Rizzo was showing his KKK piece (“again?” said Peggy) to the girls. He commented that the agency he worked for had done the “Daisy” Ad for LBJ.
NY blackout, or did we see that already? Members of my family were actually stuck in a proverbial elevator. It was Nov 9, 1965. All of NYC went black for hours. Power was not fully restored for as long as 14 hours in parts of NYC and the Northeast.
The first Super Bowl was in January of 1967.
I doubt this will be next season, but 1968 had the Tet offensive, Eugene McCarthy’s campaign, LBJ’s announcement that he will not seek another term, MLK and RFK assassinations, the DNC riots in Chicago. Nixon beats Humphrey (and Wallace) in an election that was almost as close as the one he lost in 1960, in a campaign that was run by ad men and is known for taking stage-management in politics to a new level (storyline possibilities there—I think this has been discussed here before). One of the guys he beat for the GOP nomination was Nelson Rockefeller, Henry’s boss (another storyline possibility?).
I remember the great northeast blackout of 1965 – I did my homework by firelight, one of the last times my parents actually used the fireplace. From wikipedia:
New York City was dark by 5:27p.m. The blackout was not universal in the city. Some neighborhoods never lost power. Also, some areas in New York City suburban area Bergen County, New Jersey, served by PSE&G, did not lose power. Most of the television stations in the New York metro area went dead, as well as about half the FM stations.
Fortunately, a bright full moon lit up the cloudless sky over the entire blackout area, providing some aid for the millions who were suddenly plunged into darkness.
Power restoration was uneven. Most generators had no auxiliary power to use for startup. Parts of Brooklyn were repowered by 11:00pm, the rest of the borough by midnight. However, the entire city was not returned to normal power supply until nearly 7:00 a.m. the next day, November 10.
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BTW there’s a “speculation on Season 5″ article on Salon that has a picture of Sal with Joan. One reader pointed out that in the picture Joan is wearing what looks like her wedding ring, and that she was single when Sal left – so is it possible he’s back? At least for a visit? Link here:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/01/09/mad_men_season_5_help_us_predict_the_future_of_sterling_cooper_.html
That promo picture looks to be in the conference room at the old Sterling Cooper… see the wallpaper and also Hildy…so unfortuantely I don’t think it’s anything concrete about our Sal. But nice positive thinking!
Joan got married before the start of S3; Sal’s last episode was 309. And yes, that is the old conference room. But it would be fall-on-the-floor hilarious if Sal and Stan had to work together!
For me, I’d like to see the response to the formation of NOW in 1966.
RE: formation of NOW
Was that well-known at the start? My none too well-informed impression is that NOW didn’t get a lot of attention until the 70s.
I think Peggy would know about it; she knew about the equal pay for equal work law in 1963 (she used it to ask Don for a raise), and her social group contains at least one out lesbian and one politically active journalist.
I recognize Joan’s dress in that picture — it’s from The Inheritance. That’s Harry’s baby shower in the conference room. She’s wearing an engagement ring.
Yes, I lived in Bergen County and we did not lose power, but there was no TV. I think the phones worked without electricity back then (hardwired to Jersey Bell lines) so we knew what was going on.
’66 saw the first really massive protests against the buildup in Vietnam. Don was aware of the danger in ’65; he hoped it wasn’t going to be another Korea.
By May Day ’66, there were a quarter of a million US troops deployed there. Martin Luther King first spoke out against this escalation in mid May, the day after tens of thousands of anti-war demonstrators picketed the White House, then rallied at the Washington Monument.
I was searching online for some commercials from 1966/1967, likely the pick-up point for MM S-5 and I found this link featuring a real treasure trove of 1960s advertising … http://www.tvofyourlife.com/classictvcommercials1965.htm
Also, this collection from 1966. The sound quality isn’t great, but some of these spots reflect the kind of major changes in both advertising styles and the growing trend toward ads targeted to the youth market at the time …
http://www.veoh.com/watch/e165166gyzgdNSx?h1=TV+Advertising+1966
While this isn’t historic in terms of society at large, these commercials capture a sense of where advertising was headed, by the mid-1960s.
Ye gads I remember almost every one of those ads except Pizza Hut (maybe it was a regional ad?)
It may not happen next year, but if the show covers 1969, I’d like to see everyone watching, taking note of the first American man on the moon.
More likely we’ll end in 1969, even though “the Sixties” carried over a few years. Somehow the summer of the moon landing AND Woodstock seems a fitting end of an era – or maybe Altamont? And the Stonewall riots were in there, too.
When we get to summer 1968, the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, with rioting and police state turmoil, the Yippie actions and then the trial, is going to be very big. That is when “The Sixties” turned and took hold, when Make Love Not War became war between the two Americas. It was not possible to ignore and won’t be on Mad Men either.
I meant “It won’t be possible to ignore on Mad men either”.
Muhammad Ali (stil Cassius Clay to Don and other assorted geezers) was stripped of his title in April 67 for not submitting to the selective service. “That punk, draft dodger”, mumbles Don. Irony. Delicious. The biggest cultural happening in 66 was Capote’s black and white shindig at the Plaza. Lame year. I’m sure Jane Siegel Sterling will be pining, panting heavily for Roger to take her. He’s not invited, and lil Jane is disillusioned that Rog is not as big as she thought he was (wink), and leaves him for Pete Best. Upgrade?*#@ Way to go Jane.
Apollo 1 went up in flames in January 67, which was a huge blow to the national psyche; what with the race to the moon being put in serious doubt. That event touched off a an unprecedented 24 month shitstorm in the country (barring the Civil War), where one calamity after the other had no one feeling good about almost nothing. Then Apollo 8 circumnavigated the moon Christmas week in 68, and for the first time in seemingly forever something happened that could bring all the divided sections of America together and smile, for a brief moment.
The biggest smile will be firmly pressed on Bobby Draper’s (wither Bobby no. 4?) mug. “I wanna fly a jet”. Dream big, kiddo. Big.
It’s great to hear recollections of the contemporaneous impact of history here.
I’ve got 5-7 years on Matt Weiner, so I give him and his research staff a lot of credit for presenting the fifties and sixties so well. Except for Top 40 radio, the sixties was mostly over by the time I had heard of it. My family flew to Michigan the day RFK was shot (on my first *jet* flight – I’d flown in Cessna’s before). My mom asked grandma about him when she picked us up the following day (“oh, he’s gone”). I had my first Big Mac on that trip – the shakes were more impressive – and my first hint of VietNam – a prayer for our boys in Sunday School.
We’ve already seen that Don keeps up on movies and if the show picks up in 1967, he’ll certainly have a lot of fine ones to watch.
With an amazing collection of films that reflected societal changes and a shifting trends within the studios, Don will be afforded ample opportunity for many afternoons at the cinema.
I wonder what movies are going to really blow him away? Bonnie and Clyde will, no doubt. Or maybe, In Cold Blood.
Don’s independent nature will certainly resonate with a film like Cool Hand Luke.
He’s always been open to foreign films, but he’ll probably be underwhelmed by I Am Curious (Yellow), though it did cause quite a stir at the time.
Don and Lane will definitely catch Son of Godzilla.
Megan will take the kids to see Disney’s The Jungle Book.
Betty and Henry might check out Camelot.
Peggy and Abe will take in The Trip, but it won’t compare with their own psychedelic adventures, by then.
Maybe Betty will get all melancholy after seeing Divorce American Style and start pining after Don.
Did I miss any? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_in_film
If we’re talking about 1967 films, you can’t leave out You Only Live Twice, which was a megahit. At the time, the view of Japan was exotic and rare, and Don would certainly be attracted to that, plus you just know the show will reference it.
Sidney Poitier had two major movies that year: To Sir, With Love (which Sally will adore) and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.
I think Betty will be aroused by Belle du Jour, if she sees it, and intrigued by Valley of the Dolls. Betty might not see a foreign film, but we know Don loves them, and I think he’ll love Le Samourai.
Peggy will see Don’t Look Back.
Pete will see Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More.
OBVIOUSLY Bert Cooper will adore How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.
Trudy will love Wait Until Dark.
Of course, we might be talking 1966 (that’s where my money is): Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming!, Alfie, A Man for All Seasons, Blowup, Fantastic Voyage, The Fortune Cookie, The Group, King of Hearts…lots of possibilities.
I fondly remember Fantastic Voyage – on TV.
Don’t forget Star Trek! In reaction to that CBS came up with Lost in Space (loved to hate Dr. Smith). With June Lockhart as the female lead, I kept expecting Lassie to show up.
Time Tunnel was cooler – and you got a history lesson every week.
I suppose Harry Crane, TV buyer, would be more likely to take in those shows.
(I’d get a big charge if Star Trek were playing on TV somewhere in the Mad World)
No question that Don will love “Cool Hand Luke.” “Bonnie and Clyde,” has to get a mention. Either Peggy and Abe will see it, or Sally will some how find a way to see it. Maybe Don takes Sally to see it. Pete will comment on Sidney Poitier’s roles, especially “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.”
I wonder how Don would like Seconds, from late 1966, about a man who fakes his own death so he can have a whole new face, body, and life. IIRC, though, it didn’t exactly end well for him…
Nicely done Smiler G. The Graduate came out in Christmas 67, but I doubt S5 will extend thst deep especially if it begins around summer of ’66. In the Heat of the Night was misidentified as the best picture in 67, but it is an excellent film. The Graduate is the best film of the entire decade except for Lawrence of Arabia, imo.