Basket of Kisses

The Ghost at the Feast

I believe what goes around comes around. One day I’LL be a veteran in Paradise. – Private Dinkins, “A Tale of Two Cities” California has long been Don Draper’s happy place. His closest friend lived there, in a home at which he was always welcome. He retreated there after Betty threw him out of their [...]

Planet Earth is Blue

Guest post by Basketcase Frank Bullitt In The Jet Set, Viscount Monteforte d’Alsace (Willy) asks Don Draper if he is an Astronaut. Five years later, PFC Dinkins asks Don the same question at a bar in Hawaii. This is an odd but understandable coincidence, given Don’s looks and demeanor. As examined in Tom Wolfe’s The Right [...]

Fan Art Thursday: Don Draper by Tasha Jacinto

Here’s this week’s art: a smokey reflection of Don Draper by artist Tasha Jacinto

Grandma Ida: An African-American Female Version of Don?

Of all the trippy, trippy scenes in The Crash, quite possibly the trippiest of all — and maybe the trippiest in the history of the show — was the scene where a middle-aged African-American con woman who called herself “Grandma Ida” broke into the Drapers’ apartment where the kids were home alone, and had Sally [...]

Official Bob Benson Theory Thread

By now we’ve heard them all (okay, maybe not) … – He’s Dick Whitman – He’s Death – He’s Aimee’s son – He’s the Devil (Death with personality) – He’s Norman Bates – He’s gay – He’s an avatar – He’s a cypher (whatever that is)

Conception Stories

In The Better Half we learned Sally was conceived during a vacation with Betty’s family at Lake Champlain. We also know Gene was conceived at Betty’s childhood home during a visit to her father (“… conceived in a moment of desperation and born into a mess.”). Makes you wonder how Bobby came to be …

PSA: The Valerie Center Annual 5K Run/Walk

Hey Basketcasers – If you’ll allow me a post of a personal nature, Deb and Roberta have permitted me some space to stump for a very wonderful cause. My son Leo completed treatment for leukemia (ALL) in 2010.  He now an amazing 9 year old with dirty knees and a raging chocolate chip pancake addiction. [...]

Contest Kisses: retro clothing!!!

What’s your all-time favorite look on Mad Men? I know, I know, how do you narrow it down to just one? I trust you can handle it. One look, one comment, one entry into a random drawing. Enter in comments to win a $50 gift certificate for your own vintage clothing look! Thank you Shabby [...]