More Madness

September 15, 2009 3:03 PM

The Footnotes of Mad Men explores and discusses the historic events, themes, and cultural mores of the show.
posted by mattdidthat (33 comments total)

That show is hot.
posted by Paris Hilton at 3:15 PM on September 15, 2009 [1 favorite]

Isn't there an open thread on this show already?
posted by GuyZero at 3:16 PM on September 15, 2009

Does it mention all the anachronistic Selectric IIs?
posted by Sys Rq at 3:17 PM on September 15, 2009 [1 favorite]

In related news from yesterday:

"Harper Collins will be adapting this blog into a book. And the book will be fantastic, dammit. It will be glossy with pictures and smart things written about the show’s historical and cultural context."*

posted by ericb at 3:23 PM on September 15, 2009

Does it mention all the anachronistic Selectric IIs?

Regarding the IBM Selectric Anachronism

“Way back at the beginning of this blog, I quoted George Packer bitching about the IBM anachronism; the show uses the IBM Selectric introduced in 1961. Now, I have always thought it was minor, because let’s face it, ‘Anachronisms’ is our least-used category. On the other hand, Matt Weiner is always saying what a persnickity ‘fetishist’ he is, so it’s worth questioning.

Well, Weiner answers it on the commentary for Smoke Gets In Your Eyes. For those of you who don’t have the DVDs (and why is that, anyway?), here’s what he says.

The error is, more or less, on purpose. They could get the 1960 typewriters, but not enough of them. And they didn’t work. And they had manual carriage returns. So faking that they work, and doing the sound editing to make them sound as if they worked, was all too much. The coordination of sound editing with physical carriage returning (and he didn’t say so but I know for a fact that non-working manual returns are at high risk of flying across the frickin room).

So he was able to get enough 1961 Selectrics, and they were less than 12 months out of date, and if they didn’t work you couldn’t see they didn’t work, and life was SO. MUCH. BETTER.”

posted by ericb at 3:30 PM on September 15, 2009

From: 'Mad Men' Sells the '60s with Authenticity

“The IBM Selectric:

Mad Men angle. ‘Try not to be overwhelmed by all this technology,’ Joan says to a newly hired secretary. ‘It looks complicated, but the men who designed it made it simple enough for a woman to use.’

A type of revolution. This was as good as ‘word processing’ got in the '60s — a typewriter with a spinning ball rather than the hammers that invariably got jammed up into each other. And the ball moved across a stationary sheet of paper, instead of the paper being carried from side to side, an innovation that gave the Selectric its sleek industrial design. It was a precision piece of machinery, and its descendants are still in use around the world.

Clocking out. The Selectric actually was not introduced till 1961, a year after Mad Men takes place. ‘There were lots of lengthy questions because we wanted to be period correct,’ says set decorator Amy Wells, but it was key to the pilot. They managed to dig up 18 authentic IBM typewriters in L.A. business supply shops, ‘five or six working primo,’ and painted them all a matching putty color.”

posted by ericb at 3:34 PM on September 15, 2009 [1 favorite]

I'm seeing alot of pictures but not alot of text. This blog seems half empty to me. This is my favorite Mad Men blog.
posted by amethysts at 3:36 PM on September 15, 2009

Did you know the woman who played Peggy Olson didn't actually get fat in the first season? It was all padding.

Also, this video of South Vietnam's first lady criticizing the buddhist's "barbque" for using imported gasoline is pretty amazing.
posted by Paris Hilton at 3:37 PM on September 15, 2009

They could get the 1960 typewriters, but not enough of them. And they didn’t work.

Don't they have eBay in Hollywood?

Also, like I said, they're not just Selectrics; they're Selectric IIs. The Selectric II looks totally different (much boxier, darker colours), and came out in NINETEEN MOTHER SEVENTY FUCKING THREE!!!!
posted by Sys Rq at 3:40 PM on September 15, 2009

This is my favorite Mad Men blog.

Yes ... I was first introduced to the 'Tom & Lorenzo' blog in Mick's recent FPP. Very insightful analysis and commentary.
posted by ericb at 3:41 PM on September 15, 2009

More Mad Men anachronisms.
posted by Sys Rq at 3:51 PM on September 15, 2009 [2 favorites]

I'm starting to think we just need to open a new Mad Men thread in MetaTalk every Sunday night. This is neat and everything, but it's clearly just a thinly-veiled excuse for another epic thread about this show. It's probably being flagged to death even as we speak. Obviously, the solution is just to dispense with all the thinly-veiled excuses altogether and indulge.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 3:56 PM on September 15, 2009

I saw this linked somewhere else recently. It has next to zero content (and what content there is is thin and uninspired.) Surely a show that inspires as much conversation as Mad Men requires a better blog than this. That there's a book deal involved is utterly absurd.
posted by eyeballkid at 4:40 PM on September 15, 2009 [1 favorite]

I saw this linked somewhere else recently. It has next to zero content (and what content there is is thin and uninspired.) Surely a show that inspires as much conversation as Mad Men requires a better blog than this. That there's a book deal involved is utterly absurd.

The author also writes longer pieces every week on another website.
posted by Paris Hilton at 4:42 PM on September 15, 2009

That show is hot.
posted by Paris Hilton


eponysomething.
posted by fourcheesemac at 4:50 PM on September 15, 2009 [1 favorite]

I just finished the first DVD of season 1 a few nights ago, so I'm going to favorite this thread and then come back to it once I'm caught up.

Thanks in advance, mattdidthat.
posted by Afroblanco at 4:50 PM on September 15, 2009

Anyone else feel the show is floundering in its third (and well, in its late second) season?
posted by xmutex at 4:55 PM on September 15, 2009

You know, I'll bet this Mad Men show has tons of fansites.

hint, hint...
posted by longsleeves at 4:56 PM on September 15, 2009 [1 favorite]

Anyone else feel the show is floundering in its third (and well, in its late second) season?

Yes.
posted by Sys Rq at 4:57 PM on September 15, 2009

Goldmine! I just finished the first season of the show and have been poking around trying to find some good commentary. There goes my night.
posted by milestogo at 5:02 PM on September 15, 2009

I really don't think that first Ebony ad can be from 1963. Can it? The clothes say 1973.
posted by Evangeline at 5:02 PM on September 15, 2009

This is a great short breakdown of the show, from one of the blogs linked upthread.
posted by milestogo at 5:11 PM on September 15, 2009

I really don't think that first Ebony ad can be from 1963. Can it? The clothes say 1973.

Agreed. I say boo to any blog that purports to be about Mad Men that can't tell the effing difference.

Really, a book deal, when you can't spot the 70's platforms and bell bottoms?
posted by oneirodynia at 5:17 PM on September 15, 2009

Yeah, here ya go. Ebony, September 1973.
posted by oneirodynia at 5:22 PM on September 15, 2009

Anyone else feel the show is floundering in its third (and well, in its late second) season?

No, these are some of my favorite episodes. It's definitley gotten a slightly dreamier feel, but I think it's made to represent the, uh. The passage of time? Living ina time you don't completely understand? Everyone is either grappling with a future they can't quite see or coping with a past they don't want to remember.

I think the show is different, but it's more to my taste.
posted by GilloD at 6:21 PM on September 15, 2009

Anyone else feel the show is floundering in its third (and well, in its late second) season?

Yes, ever since Don went wandering off in California, it's gotten...odd.

I mean, c'mon, dream sequences? That's a hackneyed plot device if I've ever seen one.
We need more Roger and Joan and the witty banter of the first season, not more introspection and dead civil rights leaders showing up in kitchens.

But, there's still enough there to pull me in for the time being. If nothing else, it's one of the best looking shows on TV.
posted by madajb at 9:13 PM on September 15, 2009

I emailed her about the '73 ads. Looks like she's already fixed 'em.
posted by zsazsa at 9:22 PM on September 15, 2009

Hah! Admeral really did advertize in Ebony! All the way back in 1959 even.
posted by Paris Hilton at 9:40 PM on September 15, 2009

Olive oil was also used to clean a baby in need of changing if fresh water wasn't available.
posted by brujita at 9:56 PM on September 15, 2009

Ebony magazine, along with Jet, premiered in 1945.
posted by tzikeh at 10:05 PM on September 15, 2009

I really don't think that first Ebony ad can be from 1963. Can it? The clothes say 1973.

Ha, I read that as first Evony ad.
posted by afu at 8:54 AM on September 16, 2009

Anyone else feel the show is floundering


No. And I think the musical episode a few weeks back was the best thing they've done since the first season.
posted by CunningLinguist at 10:54 AM on September 16, 2009

Though yes, not nearly enough Roger and Joan.
posted by CunningLinguist at 10:55 AM on September 16, 2009 [1 favorite]