Mad Men Grunge

In 2005 Paul Anka did an album of rock covers given jazz standards treatment, Rock Swings. This cover is more startling different than many of the covers on this album. Nirvana's fast/slow loud/quiet dynamics that so much of the song's appeal is not carried over to this cover. Instead, the lyrics have power for being comprehensible,

From a link in a post containing weird Nixon posters, "Apart from the Nixon interlude, I did intend to post this from a world where rock music never developed..." in the thread Things that look like alternate history but aren't IIa on AH.com.

Ballerina Hordes

Not every like little girl gets to do what she wants. The world could not support that many ballerinas.

Marie Calvert, Mad Men S05E12

Have a Nice Trip

You always say I never take you anywhere.

Roger Sterling, dropping acid,

 Mad Men S05E06

Don't "Root, Root, Root for the Home Team"

I hate this business of bringing England over in pieces . It's strictly for the homesick.

Lane Pryce, Mad Men S05E05 

He also talks about having no fond memories of watching football in pubs. I do during world cup, but I only follow in sport it doesn't involve professional teams.  National teams in big world wide competitions are the only time to pay attention to hockey or football. For me the service that professional leagues provide is that it keeps athletes employed between international events.

Harry Crane (Head of Media) and his Pay at SCDP in 1966

Roger Sterling pays Harry Crane $1100 to give up his windowed office in Mad Men S05E01. This supposedly equals his net monthly take home pay. Looking at historical tax rates at the (US) Tax Foundation on can calculate that Crane is making about $20K in the middle of 1966. According to Measuring Worth that has a economic value of somewhere between $200K and $350K.

The Tax foundation also has inflation adjusted numbers. Measuring Worth however has measures more than just straight inflation rates but also the relative economic value, or clout, of money in the past.

There is another thing about this scene. Roger Sterling is walking around with the equivalent of $10 grand in his pocket. For the same relative value the US should have a $1000 bill. The Euro comes in 500 Euro bills. To fight the drug war the US made handling of large sums of money difficult and expensive in time and regulation. The other reason why the Roger Sterling's of today don't walk around with wads of wads of cash large enough to wear out their pockets is because of credit cards. Today Roger Sterling would have a black AMEX and only just enough currency to tip well.

The Near Death of a Salesman

Stable, is that step backwards between successful and failing.

Pete Campbell,
 Philosopher/Pessimist/Account Executive

Mad Men S05 E01

Prairie Dog Behavior On Mad Men

(Dilbert 7/24/1992)

(Mad Men S04E04)

Midcentury Modern: Another View

Jeez, it looks like an Italian hospital.

Freddie Rumsen getting hired at SCDP,
Madmen S04E02

Too Handicapped to have a Handicap

He was a great account man.
A prodigy.
Could talk a Scotsman out of a penny.
Now that's all over.
English Suit #1

I don't know if that's true.
Don

The man is missing a foot.
How is he going to work.
The can't walk.
English Suit #2

The doctors say
he'll
never


golf again.
English Suit #1

Discussing Guy Mackendick maimed in
freak lawnmower accident, Mad Men S03E06

Can You Take a Joke?

There has to be advertising for people without a sense of humor.

Don Draper, Mad Men S02E01

Martial Happiness - Roger Sterling

You want to be right or do you want to be married?

Roger Sterling, Mad Men S02E08

Looking for a Quiet Life

Errol Flynn is gone and so is my taste for swordplay.

Roger Sterling. Mad Men S02E06

Children as Bartenders

Good times! I've said it before, but it always bears repeating: children make excellent bartenders.


Yes. They can be counted on not to get drunk (since children almost never like the taste of liquor) and start messing up the recipes, and they love playing with bottles and glasses and the like. Alas, my parents did not have me tending bar at their parties. I think my mother would have thought it was unseemly (not dangerous or immoral).

Discussion of Mad Men S02E02
on Television Without Pity.

Children's natural gift for bar tending has been noticed before. In the Simpson episode, Bart the Murderer, where Bart gets a job bar tending at the Legitimate Businessman's club and is soon famed for his Manhattans.

Beware the Frustrated Artist

Sterling Cooper has more failed artists and intellectuals than the Third Reich.

Don Draper, Mad Men S01E04,
highlighting the risk that
angry scribblers and daubers pose to any society.

The Material Necessities of Life

We Take for granted the things we need the most: water, oil, electricity, steel.

Don Draper, Mad Men S01E04