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This week’s episode of Mad Men was another brilliant one! Scads of interesting developments in the Draper and Olson households took place, as well as plenty of intriguing business at Sterling Cooper, too. I won’t say too much about any of that.

Instead, I’ll show you some of my favorite items from the show again.  What I wouldn’t give for fifteen minutes on their set, all alone, with a BIG DUFFEL BAG. (A fashionable, 1960s duffel bag, of course.)

Here are Don and Betty, awakened by a Sunday-morning phone call (how rude):

This Phone is Very Fashionable

Please to note Betty’s typically lovely sleepwear, but also please note how the pretty aqua-blue phone matches their tufted velvet headboard.  Very nice indeed.

Below is a still from yet another scene where Don’s daughter, Sally, is mixing him a drink:

Little Sally Draper, Future Bartender

The gold-leafed glass is very nice and all, but I mainly wanted to point out the amount of vodka being poured.  The glass is almost full.  That’s the way to make a Bloody Mary on a Sunday morning, I am saying.

Sally isn’t the only Draper skilled in the culinary arts, of course.  Here’s Don:

Don Draper Makes Pancakes

Ignoring the slightly unflattering high-waisted trousers he’s sporting, let’s just appreciate this electric pancake griddle.  My dad used one just like it when I was growing up — ours had interchangeable plates, so you could use it for waffles, too.

And, OMG, this one is my favorite.  You guys know how I feel about both Vincent Kartheiser and his character, Pete Campbell, right?

Pete Wears Short Pants

Well then IMAGINE MY FUCKING GLEE when Pete stands up to present some information at this last-minute Sunday meeting in the Sterling Cooper boardroom, only to reveal that he is wearing some JUST DARLING tiny white tennis shorts that barely cover his frank and beans?  Any humiliation Pete suffers on this show is nothing short of excellent.

Speaking of franks and beans, Old Sterling here seems to be recovered enough from his past heart attacks, as evidenced by his apparent plans to put the frank back in action with this prostitute, Vicky:

This Hooker is Also Very Fashionable

How much do I love Vicky’s dress, necklace, and nail polish? LOTS.  I mean, I never thought I’d be using a prostitute as a fashion example, but sometimes life is unpredictable, you know?

I have plenty of opinions about the annoying, klutzy little Bobby Draper:

Bobby Has a Robot

But I will restrict myself to commenting on his awesomely cool red robot toy.  Nice robot, kid!

And finally, I loved this scene of the Sterling Cooper team ready for their meeting with the big client:

The Sterling Cooper Team Would Like to Offer You a Bloody Mary

Everyone is outfitted perfectly, standing up straight, and ready to get shit done.  That is what I like in people.  Also, they seem to have a giant pitcher of Bloody Marys there on the table.  I like that in people, too.

Well, after ages of waiting, I have now finally been able to watch the first season of Mad Men, and man oh man, am I in love.  I was sucked in at about three minutes into the first episode, and it consistently kept my rapt attention throughout the thirteen episodes I have watched over the last two days.  (What? It’s my Relaxifying Weekend of Solitude, shut up!) (ALSO, they got nominated for 16 Emmy Awards, so it’s quality sloth time, see.)

The stories are compelling and the characters are fantastic, but I have to admit to being mostly in love with the early 1960s period look of the show. The production design is just off-the-charts fantastic! Instead of revealing much about the plot here, I’m just going to point out a few of my favorite characters, sets, wardrobe items, and objects from the show.  (If you want more, you’re just going to have to rent or download season one yourself, or just start in with season two, currently airing on AMC.)

Below is John Hamm, who plays Don Draper.  This is his office.  His glorious, gorgeous, amazingly enviable office.  Please to witness:

Wonderful whiskey glasses (I think of them as just whiskey glasses, though he specifically drinks rye on the show), a brass cigarette dispenser, and fantastic mid-century modern furniture.  Oh, and Hamm’s general hotness, lest we forget that we could fry an egg on that man’s face.

And here, I must regretfully say, is Vincent Kartheiser, who plays the abominable Pete Campbell:

Anyone with whom I’ve discussed Angel at any length already knows that Kartheiser basically ruined the entire fourth season of that show for me.  His character was whiny, cocky, ungrateful, and unattractive, and I HATED HIM.  It will come as no surprise that I feel the exact same way about Pete on Mad Men.  Just look at the way he is smirking smugly as he barges into Don’s office in the above still.  Douchebag.

Moving on, then.  Here’s Don’s wife, Betty, shown in the office of her psychoanalyst, Dr. Wayne:

Can I just tell you how happy it makes me that the show reflects the late 50s-60s craze for psychoanalysis?  VERY HAPPY.  I myself would be more than willing to see a shrink, if only I got to lounge on that amazing leather couch and smoke in the office.  Wouldn’t you?

And now, a few of the other female characters:

That’s Rachel Menken, the fabulously attired ball-buster of the department store world, and below are Peggy Olson, Don’s secretary, and Joan Halloway, another secretary in the office.

All three of these women are great characters, and present an interesting look into women’s various roles in business at this time.  Also, fabulous hair and wardrobe!

And please to humor me now as I point out more interesting items:

A stand-alone steel ashtray!  (I also love the chair Don is sitting in, only slightly visible above.)

The brass cigarette dispenser Don has on his coffee table (wish I could get a better look at it - there’s something written around the lid, but you can never quite read it).

A rotary phone with a matching phone/address book.  The rotary dial on the cover has letters instead of numbers in the finger holes, and can be opened to a specific letter using the dial function– what I wouldn’t give for one of those!

And, of course, so many pairs of horn-rimmed glasses:

And, apparently, lollipops.

There is so much eye candy in this show if only you have any interest at all in fashion, furniture, interior design, graphic design, and so forth.  I find myself pausing a few times an episode to admire one thing or another.  And hey, if you don’t care about all of the period style, there’s always the hotness of Hamm; I’m just saying.

Highly recommended!

(Warning: watching this show will inspire a stong need for whiskey, cigarettes, and flea market shopping.  I hope you can handle it.)

(ANOTHER WARNING: IF YOU DON’T WANT PLOT SPOILERS, DON’T READ THE COMMENTS. JUST POST YOUR OWN WITHOUT LOOKING AT ANYONE ELSE’S.)