what I'd buy at the Mad Men auction

Did you know that in about 5 more hours, an auction of thousands of Mad Men props begins?  I'm still not over the show being over, but I did spend a pleasant hour or so at Screen Bid looking at the items on offer.  I didn't see any women's clothing (just shoes and jewelry), but many of the men's suits are available.  I fantasized for a moment about bidding on a suit for Andy, but he's between Pete and Don in size.  He's closest in size to Roger, actually, but style-wise. . . he's a 1960s Pete or Don.  (They have Don's dirty white t-shirt and Levi's from the last episode's Bonneville Speedway scenes, too.  Rawr.)

I don't have the money to actually win a bid, but that didn't stop me from going through and picking out the items I would bid on if I did.  You can place bids on your own favorites (or just peruse the available items) over at the Screen Bid site.

clockwise, from upper left:

* This is an item I would actually use: Don's bar tools set.

* Don's journal from season 4.  I would love to see what was written in it!  I enjoyed seeing Don be so thoughtful and introspective at this point in the series; it was one of the rare times I felt real hope for him.

* This green thing is Don's pencil sharpener.  I never knew what it was until the auction enlightened me; it looks like a game show buzzer and I always thought of it as Don's panic button.

* SCDP mug.

* Who knew Meredith was a secret interior design superhero?  I loved Meredith, as annoying as she could be, and I loved the scene where she shows Don her ideas for his new apartment.

* Another item I'd get a lot of actual use from:  Don's record collection.  Some of the gems in here:  The Supremes at the Copa, Nat King Cole's "I Don't Want to Be Hurt Anymore," Elvis Sings How Great Thou Art, "Whipped Cream and Other Delights" by Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass,  "Some Blue-Eyed Soul" by The Righteous Bros., "Sketches of Spain" by Miles Davis,  "Johnny Hodges, Billy Strayhorn and his Orchestra," "Ambassador at Jazz" by Max Kaminsky.

clockwise, from upper left:

* The note Don included with the flowers he sent Joan after their Jaguar test drive/cocktail date.  Another of my favorite series scenes, with Joan and Don musing about why they never hooked up.

* A typed set of directions to Pete's house for dinner and drinks, which he handed to Don.  This item is 100% pure Essence of Pete.

* Two cans of Old Style beer, which Don and Peggy shared while watching the moon landing in their hotel before the Burger Chef pitch.  A favorite scene between my two favorite characters.

* Sally's family tree, a prop in the scene in which Sally first learns about the existence of Anna, thanks to Betty (not one of Betty's finer parenting moments.  Not that there were many of those).

* The menu and bill from Quo Vadis restaurant, from the scene where Joan offers Peggy a partnership in her production company.  I admit, I had a real thrill of excitement thinking of these two powerhouses partnering up.

Bonus item:

* Pauline Francis' book and Seconal bottles!  That scene--where Pauline dopes up little Sally to calm her after Sally is terrified by the news coverage of the Richard Speck mass murder case--is both horrifying and hilarious.  Screen Bid takes pains to inform us that the Seconal bottles will arrive empty.

xo

K

Don Draper: "I keep going places and ending up somewhere I've already been."

Who is Don Draper?  "People tell you who they are, but we ignore it because we want them to be who we want them to be."  What do we want Don to be?  Where do we want Don to end up?

In a cast of cynical characters set in cynical NYC in that most cynical of all businesses, advertising, Don is king: “I hate to break it to you, but there is no big lie, there is no system, the universe is indifferent.”  "People want to be told what to do so badly that they’ll listen to anyone."  “What you call love was invented by guys like me … to sell nylons.”  And yet, what are Don's biggest fears?  "That I never did anything, and that I don't have anyone."  

Don may not be a great believer in--or at all good at--romantic love.  But he is capable of love.  Some of his best moments are those with women with whom he is not having a romantic relationship.  Though his and Peggy's relationship has been tumultuous ("It's your job.  I give you money, you give me ideas"), it has also had moments of real friendship and support, admiration, and respect:  "Because there are people out there who buy things, people like you and me. And something happened. Something terrible. And the way that they saw themselves is gone. And nobody understands that. But you do. And that’s very valuable."  Don's relationship with Sally has been similarly stormy.  But he clearly loves her, and seems in the later episodes to be really trying to understand her and create a bond with her.  He gives her the best advice a father could give a daughter:  "You're a very beautiful girl.  It's up to you to be more than that." 

There has been so much speculation about where Don ends up as Mad Men comes to a close.  It's unlikely Matt Weiner will leave us with a definitive answer.  I don't expect or want Don to commit suicide, or to turn out to be some mysterious D.B. Cooper figure.  I like the idea of him driving off into the sunset, with the possibility of finding some actual, real, lasting happiness:   "We know where we’ve been, where we are, let’s assume that it’s good, but it’s going to get better, it’s supposed to get better."

 

* "I have to make sure I look like The Man." | 1960s fedora from CalloohCallay

* "I was an orphan.  I grew up in Pennsylvania, in a whorehouse." | vintage photograph collection from ThirdShift

* "Somebody very important to me died." | 1940s striped suitcase from 86home

* "This device isn't a spaceship, it's a time machine. It goes backwards, and forwards … it takes us to a place where we ache to go again. It's not called the wheel, it's called the carousel. It lets us travel the way a child travels--around and around, and back home again, to a place where we know are loved.” | 1970s Kodak Carousel from msjeannieology

* "People were buying cigarettes before Freud was born." | Lucky Strike poster print from EntropyTradingCo

* "I've started over a lot, Lane.  This is the worst part." | Korean War era Army shirt from GoodWareCompany

* "I don’t know. It’s your life. You don’t know how long it’s gonna be but you know it’s got a bad ending. You have to move forward. As soon as you can figure out what that is." | 1960s black bakelite bar ashtray from OceansideCastle

* 1960s two piece suit | EndlessAlley

* "But what is happiness?  It's a moment before you need more happiness." | 1960s Hawaii travel ad from MinistryOfArtifacts

* "Why is this empty?" | set of 6 roly poly cocktail glasses from SkinnyandBernie

xo

K

dapper don

Just in time for Fathers Day gift shopping, I'm adding some men's stuff to the shop.  It's mostly 1960s stuff, and since we're in the midst of the new season of Mad Men, I naturally can't help myself thinking of Don.  (Though I want to think about Roger.  I really do.  I love him.  But--other than the great acid trip scene with him in the towel turban and bathrobe--we never see him in anything other than a suit.)  Speaking of which...

Here's a sharp dark brown sharkskin suit.  However the label...

Huh.  Truth in advertising?  No!  It really isn't shit...it's lovely sharkskin, in excellent condition.  I'd sure love to know the story behind this.

Remember that loud plaid suit jacket Don wore to Pete's dinner party?  This pewter gray plaid sharkskin number from Hart Schaffner & Marx is a bit more subdued.

1960s green and orange plaid shirt by Westbrook.

1950s McGregor plaid cotton pullover.

1960s Kamehameha Hawaiian shirt.

1950s paisley print shirt by Swim Mates.

xo

K