This post is a continuation of the posts I made listing the things that are seen in Mad Men that are different from today. My husband and I watched the entire series on Netflix, one season after the other.
You might want to start with my lists from Mad Men Season One, Mad Men Season Two, and Mad Men Season Three before reading this one, which is about Mad Men Season Four.
Warning: There are spoilers.
Episode 1:
* A reporter interviews Don. The reporter takes notes on a pad of paper with a pen and writes in shorthand.
* A television in the background of one scene shows a football game. The commentator says something about a particular football player who weighs 200 pounds – as if this is significant.
The NFL website has a photo of two football players. One is Hall of Fame Wilber “Pete” Henry, a.k.a. “Fats” who weighed 245 pounds in 1920. The other photo is of New Orleans guard Jahri Evans who weighs 318 pounds.
Episode 2:
* The office has a Christmas party. People are selecting what music to play by sorting through 45″ records and putting their selection on a record player.
* Joan leads a long conga line through the office. She clearly knows how to do this dance – and so do several of the people in the conga line behind her.
Episode 3:
I didn’t notice anything in this episode that was different from today (and that had not already been mentioned in this list or in the lists I wrote about previous Sessions.)
Episode 4:
Don and Roger are having a conference call with someone from Lucky Strike. Don is using one of of the rotary phones, holding the handset (that is attached to the phone with a long, curly, cord) to his head.
Roger and Don’s secretary are using the other rotary phone – which has two handsets (each attached to the phone with a long, curly, cord).
The secretary is whispering, and is informed by Roger that she doesn’t need to whisper because the Lucky Strike guy can’t hear her. The second handset apparently has the ability to be muted.
Episode 5:
* The office has the opportunity to work with Honda. Roger Sterling freaks out and nearly ruins the opportunity. Roger was in World War II and refuses to work with the Japanese. Roger isn’t over what happened when he was in the war and, decades later, still sees Japanese people as the enemy.
* The creative team is fascinated by a “Dippy Bird” toy.
Episode 6:
I didn’t notice anything in this episode that was different from today (and that had not already been mentioned in this list or in the lists I wrote about previous Seasons.)
Episode 7:
* Several of the people from the office are going to see the boxing match between Cassius Clay and Sonny Liston. (Clay later changed his name to Muhammad Ali). They went to a theater to watch it.
Peggy doesn’t go, but tells her boyfriend over the phone that he could watch the fight on closed circuit tv. The fight was not broadcast on over-the-air television. It was on the radio.
Episode 8:
* In this episode, it is revealed that Don never finished high school. And yet, he’s got a well-paying job in advertising – which was considered to be glamorous at the time.
* The office has a malfunctioning candy machine. It looks a lot like the cigarette machines from then. To use it, you put in change and then pull a lever beneath the candy you wanted to buy. The candy drops into a bin in the lower part of the machine.
* Betty was at a fancy restaurant and went into the lady’s room. The stall she is in has an ashtray attached to the inside wall of the stall.
Episode 9:
* Don tells Sally that he will take her to see The Beatles. Sally screams and keeps screaming, confusing her mother, Betty.
* Price takes his father and Don to dinner at a Playboy Club. Price is a key holder.
Episode 10:
* Roger was sent to speak with Lucky Strike (who was taking their business elsewhere – long story short). Instead of going to speak with Lucky Strike – by getting on a plane and flying to where their offices were – Roger goes to a nearby hotel.
He calls the office from the hotel and says he is calling from Lucky Strike (and using their receptionist’s phone). The rotary phones, with handsets that connect to the base with a curly cord, were a few years away from having the earliest form of Caller ID.
Episode 11:
I didn’t notice anything in this episode that was different from today (and that had not already been mentioned in this list or in the lists I wrote about previous Seasons.)
Episode 12:
I didn’t notice anything in this episode that was different from today (and that had not already been mentioned in this list or in the lists I wrote about previous Seasons.)
Episode 13:
I didn’t notice anything in this episode that was different from today (and that had not already been mentioned in this list or in the lists I wrote about previous Seasons.)
Things from Mad Men that are Different from Today – Season Four is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites.
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