Mad Men Unbuttoned: A Romp Through 1960s America
Mad Men, AMC's Emmy-and Golden Globe-winning series, has dazzled viewers and critics alike with its deeply nostalgic portrayal of Madison Avenue's Golden Age. But behind the show's sumptuous set design, top-notch writing, and trance-inducing performances, high art is undeniably at play. In Mad Men Unbuttoned, journalist and Mad Men fanatic Natasha Vargas-Cooper delves into the most fascinating and essential references from the early 1960s: the ads and the men who made them, the style, the...
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Mad Men Unbuttoned, footnotes to the show and the era, including these fascinating tidbits: Don Draper's character is based on the real-life Draper Daniels, protÉgÉ of Leo Burnett who started off as a copywriter and rose to creative director, eventually heading the team that launched the Marlboro Man.The iconic "Think Small" Volkswagen ad positioned the Beetle as an ugly but well-made car—a revolt against excess. Not only did unit sales top 500,000 cars a year, but the campaign succeeded in junking all the rules of car advertising.When barred from visiting Disneyland on a trip to the United States, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev threw a tantrum and left Los Angeles in a huff the very next day. The Group by Mary McCarthy, the novel Betty Draper is seen reading in the bathtub, transformed the way women viewed love, sex, and marriage. In 1947 Christian Dior showcased its revolutionary New Look line. Betty, Peggy, and the rest of the steno pool at Sterling-Cooper can be seen sporting the sloping shoulders, hourglass silhouettes, and billowing skirts of the New Look style. Publishers Weekly Entering its fourth season on July 25, AMC's critically acclaimed TV series Mad Men takes place on Madison Avenue during the early 1960s in the fictional Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce ad agency. Inspired by the TV series, L.A. freelance writer Vargas-Cooper launched a nicely designed and engaging blog, the Footnotes of Mad Men, to survey not only the show but also the real-world historical and cultural artifacts of that period. Now her attractive blog has been adapted into an equally attractive book. As Vargas-Cooper sees it, the series is "about the culture clash and contradictions that occurred during the twilight of the Eisenhower era, the great societal shake-up of the 1960s" and its impact on modern America. She focuses on advertising, design, films, literature, politics, sex, style, and the workplace in order to probe "the most dramatic cultural shift in the 20th century." She begins by detailing all the series' regular characters and then moves on to profile real-life ad man Leo Burnett (Tony the Tiger, the Pillsbury Doughboy, the Marlboro Man), followed by everything from skinny ties, condoms, John Cheever and Frank O'Hara to Jackie Kennedy's White House tour on CBS and The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit. All are neatly linked with specific TV episodes, making this both an entertaining read and the definitive companion book for the series. (July)
Introduction xiCharacters xv1 The Ads and the Men who Made them 1Leo Burnett: The Boy who the Earth Talks to 3Draper Daniels Strains Out the Sissy Taste 9Be Manly, Get Lucky: Lucky Strike 12Western Union: What Makes a Great Ad? 15"Sigmund" Campbell: The Smoker's Death Wish 19David Ogilvy: For the Snob in You 21Redesigning Menken's: Matriarchs of the Sales Floor 24West Germany v. Detroit: The Volkswagen Campaign 27The Promiscuous Mingling of Art and Copy: Julian Koenig and George Lois 29Polaroid: More Powerful than Memory Alone 31McCann-Erickson: A Loose Alliance of Warring Chiefs 34The Typography of Travel: American Airlines 37Cooper Studios: Madison Ave. Artisans 39An Illustrator's Icon: Bernie Fuchs 42The Minimal Realism of Morton Salt: Charley Harper 45Bethlehem Steel: A Love Letter to Infrastructure 46Maidenform: Tie Me Up/Tie Me Down 492 Style 51A Fashion Revelation: The New Look 53"Put Your Hair in Curlers": At the Home Salon 55La Dolce Draper: Betty's European Makeover 57The Men in Gray Flannel Suits 60"It Matters to Me that you're Impressed": Pete's Prep School Style 63A Streamlined Man: The Skinny Tie 66The Pseudorebellion of Paul Kinsey: A Man and his Beard 683 Working Girls 71Rachel Menken at the Bargain Bin 73How to be a Betty: Modeling in the 1950s 75What they didn't Teach in Secretary School 78Coffee, Tea, or Me?: Stewardesses, the Glamour Girls of the Skies 81Touching and Feeling with Teacher: Suzanne 84First Shots in the Nanny Wars: Carla 874 Sex 89Peggy's Pamphlet: A Guide to (Respectfully) Getting it On 91Preventing Peggy's Ovulation 95Youngs for Rubbers 96Sex and the Single Girl 99Joan Goes Lightly Among the Lesbians 101Sally Draper and the L-Word 105Relax, It's Light-Up Time: Notes on Salvatore Romano 106Weighing Sins in the State of New York: Divorce 112Betty's Choice 115Betty in Stirrups, Don in Waiting 1185 Smoking, Drinking, Drugging 121"Puffing While Pregnant" 123Always be Smoking: Why Don Won't Quit 125Daze of Wine and Roses: Off to Rehab 129"Take a Pill and Lie Down": Psychiatry in the 1960s 1336 Décor 135The Drapers' Décor: Inside 42 Bullet Park Road 137Plantations and Park Ave 139The Japonisme of Bert Cooper's Office 142Shoguns of Sterling Cooper 145The White House Tour: Jackie Kennedy Mesmerizes the Nation 146Suburban Rococo: Draper Residence in Regency 1497 Literature 153Steno Pool Book Club: Lady Chatterley's Lover 155The Unsentimental Men of Ayn Rand 157Ossining: Cheever Country 159Betty's Bathtub Reading: The Group 161Philip Roth in Bullet Park 164An Intimate Yell: Frank O'Hara 1668 Movies 173The Sexual Alchemy of Don Draper 175Snow-Covered Volcano: Grace Kelly 179Ann-Margret Fever 181Don's Weepies: La Notte 184Fritz Lang Presents Penn Station 186The Misfits: They Eat Horses, Don't They? 188Joan in The Apartment 1909 In Progress 193Don in the Village: Bohemians v. Indifferent Universe 195Sun Sets on the Eisenhower Era: World's Fair, New York, 1964 199"When You Look at it, You do Feel Something": Rothko 201California Cool 205Conrad Hilton: Cold Warrior 207Khrushchev Barred from Tomorrowland 210"One Hell of a Focus Group": The Port Huron Statement 213Hellfire: Four Little Girls 215How you Get your News: The Kennedy Assassination 219Reno: The Clearinghouse of Illusion 221Acknowledgments 223Illustration Credits 225Index 227
\ Publishers WeeklyEntering its fourth season on July 25, AMC's critically acclaimed TV series Mad Men takes place on Madison Avenue during the early 1960s in the fictional Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce ad agency. Inspired by the TV series, L.A. freelance writer Vargas-Cooper launched a nicely designed and engaging blog, the Footnotes of Mad Men, to survey not only the show but also the real-world historical and cultural artifacts of that period. Now her attractive blog has been adapted into an equally attractive book. As Vargas-Cooper sees it, the series is "about the culture clash and contradictions that occurred during the twilight of the Eisenhower era, the great societal shake-up of the 1960s" and its impact on modern America. She focuses on advertising, design, films, literature, politics, sex, style, and the workplace in order to probe "the most dramatic cultural shift in the 20th century." She begins by detailing all the series' regular characters and then moves on to profile real-life ad man Leo Burnett (Tony the Tiger, the Pillsbury Doughboy, the Marlboro Man), followed by everything from skinny ties, condoms, John Cheever and Frank O'Hara to Jackie Kennedy's White House tour on CBS and The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit. All are neatly linked with specific TV episodes, making this both an entertaining read and the definitive companion book for the series. (July)\ \ \ \ \ The New Yorker"Possibly the richest of the "Mad Men" books...Mad Men Unbuttoned is a well-versed primer to the most literate show on television."\ \ \ The Oregonian (Portland)"Mad Men Unbuttoned is a stylishly designed, intelligently written book."\ \ \ \ \ Women's Wear Daily"Mad Men Unbuttoned is like an easy, vibrant reference tool for the thirtysomething, Sixties-obsessed set."\ \ \ \ \ Interview"Mad Men Unbuttoned lends real-life context to the show’s most memorable scenes and references."\ \ \ \ \ New York Review of Books"Mad Men Unbuttoned is likely to become a trivia-lover’s bible, as well as recommended reading for the inevitable college media-studies courses on this pop-cultural phenomenon."\ \ \ \ \ Penthouse"A dazzling pop-culture history of the 1960s. [Natasha Vargas-Cooper’s] zeal for detail is unparalleled. This is an opinionated, sexy history book for those who hate studying."\ \ \ \ \ Nina DiSesa"Natasha-Vargas Cooper nails the 1960s and the ad industry during this fascinating era. A good, fast, joyful read."\ \
