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