Season 1, Episode 3

Synopsis

On the train to work, Don sees a new, simplistic print ad for Volkswagen. A friendly man claims to recognize him as “Dick Whitman.” He hasn’t seen Don in ages and gives him his card.

Pete returns from his honeymoon to light joshing from co-workers. He opens his office door to find a group of Chinese waiting there as a practical joke. The office bursts into laughter. Pete stops by Peggy’s desk to say he’s now a married man and their previous encounter was a one time thing.

Don and the staff are supposed to be meeting about Secor laxatives but instead spend time analyzing the Volkswagen ad.

Joan and some office women discuss the racy book Lady Chatterly’s Lover. One of the women loans it to Peggy, with the warning to not read it on the train lest she call attention to herself.

The staff again meets with Rachel Menken to discuss an ad campaign for Menken’s department store. Don’s cuff link falls off and Rachel silently return it to him. Pete takes note of their flirting. It’s revealed that nobody from Sterling Cooper has yet visited the actual store. Don says someone will fix this.

After work, Don visits the store. Rachel helps him pick out a new pair of cuff links and then gives him a store tour. Rachel shows Don some dogs kept in a cage on the rooftop, and they kiss. Don then tells her he’s married and Rachel is deflated. She says Sterling Cooper will continue to represent Menken’s but she’d like someone else to take over the account.

The next day is Don’s daughter Sally’s birthday. Don gets up early and has several beers while putting together her birthday present, a playhouse. Betty and Francine prepare the food while gossiping about Helen, the recently divorced neighbor.

The guests arrive and we meet Francine’s husband Carlton. Others are Janet and Henry Darling, Nancy and Chet Wallace, and Jack and Marilyn Farrelly. Helen arrives with her son Glen with some excuses on why she’s late.

As the children play, the men tell joke about Volkswagens, and the women discuss their honeymoons, trying to get a reaction from Helen. Don films the party with a film camera as The Marriage of Figaro plays. Carlton offers some company to Helen, which she rebuffs. Don then catches Janet and Henry kissing which reminds him of Rachel.

Don, continuing to drink, sits alone outside watching the children play. Helen starts to talk to him as Betty and the other women gossip about her. They notice Helen is talking to Don outside, so Betty tells Don to go get the cake. Carlton’s son Ernie runs and spills a drink. Another man slaps Ernie and scolds him.

After an hour, Don hasn’t returned. Betty calls the store to learn Don picked up the cake. The Farrellys are about to leave, annoyed. Helen offers to go get a Sara Lee cake from her freezer. Betty disappointingly cuts the cake. Meanwhile, Don sits in his car in the dark, smoking a cigarette, watching a train speed by. He arrives home after all the guests have left, with a birthday present for Sally, a pet dog.

Thoughts

Style

This episode features Don grabbing some beer from a garage refrigerator, in a can that had to be opened the old fashioned way – with a can opener. Unfortunately, the brand “Fielding” seems to be fictional, or at least, I can’t find any references online.

Also slightly amusing was the food served at the party. You can glory in retro cuisine at The Gallery of Regrettable Food.

Then And Now

• Racism: The Chinese people left in Pete’s office as a practical joke are referred to as “Chinamen” and “Orientals” and Don makes a crack that they’re doing his laundry. Later, at the birthday party, one of the women talks about a honeymoon where there were a lot of “big noses” that outnumbered them.
• Food: Pete calls for a “rib eye” in a pan with butter and ice cream for dessert. Betty makes celery sticks filled with cream cheese. Don drinks a “Fielding” beer in a pull top can. Betty later serves mint juleps and punch spiked with whiskey.
• Divorce: The party women are a bit perturbed by the attendance of Helen Bishop who is recently divorced and has a young son. They make casual reference to her divorce in an attempt to embarrass her. The men make fun of her car which is a Volkswagen. Single parenthood and divorce still had a certain stigma and shamefulness which is certainly less true today.
• Parenting: A man slaps Carlton’s son for running in the house, and Carlton asks if he “wants some more.” It’s okay for parents to hit their kids, and also okay for another parent to do the hitting.
• No cell phones: When Don disappears, there is no way to track him down. Today, he’d surely have a cell phone through which Betty could scold him. The lack of omnipresent communications technology certainly did afford people a fair amount of personal freedom.

Advertising

The Volkswagen ad, developed by William Bernbach, was very influential at the time. It also displayed a sense of irony, that the people creating the ad knew the negative things people thought about the Volkswagen – at the time, it was considered a small, silly car, especially in comparison to the Buicks and Fords of the time. The Volkswagen ad also deviated from the typical car ad of the time, which boasted the product’s strengths. The viewer of the Volkswagen ad actually had to work a bit to understand the point – making both it and the product more memorable.

Developments

Don Draper tells Pete he was trained to not wear jewelry. Later, Rachel Menken helps Don pick out some cuff links.

Don’s deception continues, as at episode’s start he runs into an old army buddy who knows him by a different name. Paul at the office reveals that nobody in the office knows much about Don’s past. And then there’s the whole birthday party where Don vanishes for a good amount of time and returns with a dog. We can sense a smoldering disillusionment with his married life. Don’s urge to purchase a dog is most likely driven by seeing Rachel Menken’s – not because of any desire on the part of his family.

Next Episode: New Amsterdam
Previous Episode: Ladies Room

TV Shows: Mad Men

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Posted In: Mad Men

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