Mad Men Discussion Thread

[mefordis]

One problem with the whole thing is that she wasn't that big to have carried a baby close enough to term for it to survive in those times. They didn't have the neo natal care they now have. If she had given birth at 7 months, it would not have survived and she was probably looking only 7 months along.

In the 8th and 9th month, you get really BIG! Even small girls have a round round tummy. I don't even know if in the 60's they could have kept a baby at 8 months alive.

Thoughts on this?

Oh, no -- it was a psych ward. She was there for about 3 months, I think.
(When Don called her mother to find out why she had disappeared, her mother told him she was quarantined because she had TB. Don smelled a rat and went looking for her, and found out where she really was.)

The story was that she refused to accept that she had had a child at all, so the doctors had her involuntarily committed. ("The State of NY says so...") Don told her to say whatever the Drs. wanted her to, so that she could get out. She did, and he gave her her job back.

As a PP said, she not only doesn't WANT to remember the baby, she really doesn't remember the baby -- she has totally blocked out the episode, and the "Twilight Sleep" that they gave then makes it plausible -- if she was "never pregnant" and doesn't remember the birth itself, then as Don said, it didn't happen. (Twilight Sleep induces amnesia.) She knows it happened because the doctors told her so, but she doesn't actually remember it -- it is like it happened to someone else. What she remembers (but doesn't want to remember) is being in the psych ward, and having to say that she knew she had a baby in order to get out.

 

[trip]

I was thinking wouldn't it be funny if Abe's last name was Hoffman
Catholic girl in love with a Jewish boy from Brooklyn? Been there, done that. It was called the Brooklyn Bridge. Great series that got cut too soon.

I thought the same thing! I'm sure they are going to include all of the 60's craziness.

As a side note, I heard Abby Hoffman speak at my univerity in late '69. Yeah, I'm old.

 

[Rupert B Puppenstein]

Do you think we will see Allison again? I found it interesting that Don was typing her a letter. He threw it out, but I wonder if he will say something later...

I hope the next episode is when Betty finally leaves the house. I found it so strange that she was still there with her new husband.

Pete will always be creepy to me but this episode did show the connection between him and Peggy. She really wanted to forget that part of her life and seemed to until the card and news reached her. I didn't like her in previous seasons, but am starting to like her now.

This season is no where near as good as the previous ones but I have a feeling it is on the way finally to getting good!

 

[Pakey]

Finally a decent episode; I felt the humor at the beginning with the Lucky Strike conference call brought the series back to it's strength of the advertising dynamics. Peggy has always been a favorite character so I'd love to see her get another strong story line.

Pete is like an annoying gnat. Too much of him would force me to quit watching the show.

 

[NotUrsula]

One problem with the whole thing is that she wasn't that big to have carried a baby close enough to term for it to survive in those times. They didn't have the neo natal care they now have. If she had given birth at 7 months, it would not have survived and she was probably looking only 7 months along.

In the 8th and 9th month, you get really BIG! Even small girls have a round round tummy. I don't even know if in the 60's they could have kept a baby at 8 months alive.

Thoughts on this?

It wasn't premature. The plot points set dates pretty firmly in Mad Men: she got pregnant in the pilot episode in early March 1960, and had the baby on the day before Thanksgiving.

Really, there are people who don't show that much, especially if they are heavyset to begin with, and Peggy was gaining a lot of weight in general, and dressing in a concealing way. I'm normally a size 18, and I never wore maternity clothes with my two kids -- my weight stayed exactly even when I was pregnant, and a week after delivery I was down 40 lbs. from my pre-pregnancy weight.

Also, don't forget the corsets -- even pregnant women wore them then.

 

[mefordis]

Not to get off topic, but how did you lose 40 lbs when you were pregnant? I have heard of weight loss during pregnancy but wow! How did you do it? Do you remember what you ate? I always gained 40 lbs with each of my kids and I was about a size 16 pre pregnancy.

Thanks for sharing!

It wasn't premature. The plot points set dates pretty firmly in Mad Men: she got pregnant in the pilot episode in early March 1960, and had the baby on the day before Thanksgiving.

Really, there are people who don't show that much, especially if they are heavyset to begin with, and Peggy was gaining a lot of weight in general, and dressing in a concealing way. I'm normally a size 18, and I never wore maternity clothes with my two kids -- my weight stayed exactly even when I was pregnant, and a week after delivery I was down 40 lbs. from my pre-pregnancy weight.

 

[NotUrsula]

Not to get off topic, but how did you lose 40 lbs when you were pregnant? I have heard of weight loss during pregnancy but wow! How did you do it? Do you remember what you ate? I always gained 40 lbs with each of my kids and I was about a size 16 pre pregnancy.

No effort at all really -- I just don't like food when I'm pregnant; it all tastes like sawdust. Sweets, especially, tasted awful to me, when normally I have a terrible sweet tooth. The babies and I essentially traded the pounds -- they gained while I lost, so my weight never changed until after I delivered. My kids were 8lb9oz and 7lb11oz; not outrageously small or large. The 40 lbs was baby, waterweight, placenta, and the initial effect of nursing.

The bad part is that I've never otherwise managed any good weight loss method, and the factory is closed -- I've had to accept that it is unlikely that I'll ever manage that kind of weight loss again.

 

[mefordis]

I'm doing sparkpeople.com and doing pretty well so far. I really like the Website. I put in everything I eat each day, and all my exercise. It might sound like a pain but it is actually fun!

No effort at all really -- I just don't like food when I'm pregnant; it all tastes like sawdust. Sweets, especially, tasted awful to me, when normally I have a terrible sweet tooth. The babies and I essentially traded the pounds -- they gained while I lost, so my weight never changed until after I delivered. My kids were 8lb9oz and 7lb11oz; not outrageously small or large. The 40 lbs was baby, waterweight, placenta, and the initial effect of nursing.

The bad part is that I've never otherwise managed any good weight loss method, and the factory is closed -- I've had to accept that it is unlikely that I'll ever manage that kind of weight loss again.

 

[Maddle]

Oh, no -- it was a psych ward. She was there for about 3 months, I think.
(When Don called her mother to find out why she had disappeared, her mother told him she was quarantined because she had TB. Don smelled a rat and went looking for her, and found out where she really was.)

The story was that she refused to accept that she had had a child at all, so the doctors had her involuntarily committed. ("The State of NY says so...") Don told her to say whatever the Drs. wanted her to, so that she could get out. She did, and he gave her her job back.

Yes - it's coming back to me now. Thanks!

...and wasn't the scene of his visit a flashback? when she was going to bail him out after his drunk driving accident and his mistress at the time gave her grief about keeping a secret, or why are you so nice to him or some such thing?

But why am I remembering two babies at the Mother's home? but I only remember one baby in church? Maybe I will have to go back and watch the first couple seasons again.

Maddle

 

[redlight]

Yes, Don's scene with Peggy was a flashback. I'm not sure how long Peggy was in the hospital/institution. She had the baby Thanksgiving 1960. The next season started in early 1962. The boys were still wondering about how Peggy lost weight. She could have been there 6 or 9 months.

 

[Maddle]

Didn't they suggest she had been to a "fat farm?" How delicate of them...

 

[Mimi1965]

Really like last night.
I was totally wrong about Sally not getting any screen time this season.

Interesting how anti-Japan Roger is-I dont remember that about the 60's

 

[gometros]

Really like last night.
I was totally wrong about Sally not getting any screen time this season.

Interesting how anti-Japan Roger is-I dont remember that about the 60's

And I didn't remember Beni Hana being around back then already. That's the fun part of the show - reminding me about things I forgot about growing up. And Honda. My dad had a Honda bike, a 175cc that he got rid of out of pretense of insurance costs. Only later did I find out it was because I was getting close to driving age

 

[Pakey]

Last night's episode was awesome. I looked over at one point and my husband was smiling; I think we were both glad that this season is finally Mad Men again.

I loved the short TV clips that they showed while Sally was watching television. I fondly remember both Top Cat and Man from U.N.C.L.E.

 

[mefordis]

Okay, I, along with other people on another Mad Men board, suspect there is going to be a horrible reveal about the relationship between grandpa Gene and Sally. I think they are going in that direction with the psychiatrist, Betty saying her behavior changed since G. Gene died, etc. I think her behavior on the couch at the slumber party is indicative of this.

I mean, he was losing his mind and he made suggestive comments to Betty in one episode. I wouldn't be surprised. I think that's the direction they are taking this.

The first thing I thought of was Henry maybe being inappropriate with her but Betty told the Psychiatrist that the behavior started after G. Gene passed away. So now I think it was him.

Thoughts on this?

 

[NotUrsula]

Oh, Lord yes, there were a lot of WW2 vets who were virulently anti-Japanese -- still are, I'm sure. My MIL's 2d husband was one of them. In fact, he was an equal-opportunity anti-Asian bigot. When they got married, one of the first things he did was to insist that she get rid of her Toyota and buy a domestic-model car. He also absolutely refused to eat any food that was even sort-of Asian. (No tea, for instance.)

I remember that my Aunt and Uncle bought a Toyota in about 1967. It caused a big stir in their small southern town. My uncle was a WW2 vet, but he had served in Europe rather than Japan, and that made quite a bit of difference in his attitude. IME, the guys who showed really overt prejudice were often former POW's, and I guess they had a certain justification for being predisposed to it.

Men who served in later wars in Asia tended not to have much of an issue with Japan, because there were R&R facilities there, and they had good associations with that.

As for an unnatural relationship between Grandpa Gene and Sally; I'm not so sure. I think I smell one of Wiener's infamous red herrings there. She was a bit sexually precocious before Grandpa moved in -- remember the really inappropriate conversation that she struck up with Paul at the office when she saw the photo of his girlfriend? I think that Sally has had a habit for years of spying on her parents in intimate moments.

 

[redlight]

Okay, I, along with other people on another Mad Men board, suspect there is going to be a horrible reveal about the relationship between grandpa Gene and Sally. I think they are going in that direction with the psychiatrist, Betty saying her behavior changed since G. Gene died, etc. I think her behavior on the couch at the slumber party is indicative of this.

I mean, he was losing his mind and he made suggestive comments to Betty in one episode. I wouldn't be surprised. I think that's the direction they are taking this.

The first thing I thought of was Henry maybe being inappropriate with her but Betty told the Psychiatrist that the behavior started after G. Gene passed away. So now I think it was him.

Thoughts on this?

Grandpa Gene confused Betty with his wife, and grabbed her inappropriately. His confusion was because of his stroke. But I don't see Gene being inappropriately interested in little girls. I hope I'm right because I liked Gene.

 

[Mimi1965]

My favorite scene from last night..............Don going to bed with a brunette-and waking up with a Blonde


Congrats on another Emmy-Mad Men

 

[FloraFauna]

The Cure for the Common Breakfast

 

[gometros]

The Cure for the Common Breakfast

Mad Men tends to be a stickler about accuracy, but I couldn't remember that ad campaign. The first one I remember was the Mikey ads. We used to eat Life as kids growing up, so I would have thought I'd remember.

So that's what it like to have a real bender. Going to sleep on a Friday night with a brunette and waking up Sunday morning with a blond and totally forgetting Saturday? Thank goodness I never drank like that.