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Unpacking Last Night's <em>Mad Men</em>: From Madison Ave. Steakhouses To Blue Eyeshadow
By
Jen Carlson
Published Apr 13, 2015
Modified Apr 13, 2015
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Apr 13, 2015
Modified Apr 13, 2015
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Some time has passed since last week's episode, but we're still in 1970. Below, a look at some of the historical timestamps from last night's Mad Men:
DINNER AT THE GUV'NOR
Diana, "you know the waitress," has moved up from her diner job to a more upscale restaurant. But what restaurant? Given the detail and research that goes into every aspect of the show (even that pink cake box prop was based on a real bakery), we knew it would be based on a real one, and thankfully AMC released a video revealing all. This was the Guv'nor Steakhouse, which prop masterr Ellen Freund explains was "a fairly big scene" in the 1970s.
A 1972 NY Mag blurb notes that the restaurant had "four rooms with the British touch," and offered steaks, prime rib, lobster tails, and a "free Muncheon Board from 5 to 9 p.m."
Guv'nor was located at 303 Madison Avenue (between 41st and 42nd streets), which is currently occupied by Pera.
LUNCHEON AT THE PLAZA
Megan meets Harry at the Plaza for a lunch that ends before it begins. The only order she gets in is for a bottle of white, before her dining companion has repelled her with his sleazy advances. The lunch looks like it takes place in the Palm Court.
Elsewhere in the hotel that year, the Edwardian Room was getting remade into the Green Tulip, a restaurant that only lasted from 1971 to 1974, when it was replaced by The Plaza Restaurant. NYT writer Paul Goldberger compared the Tulip to "a restaurant in a suburban shopping mall that specializes in quiches." The hotel put out a little obituary when the Tulip died
The hotel also saw an assassination attempt that year, when in April Nationalist China's Deputy Premier was nearly shot while entering the lobby.
BLUE EYESHADOW
Megan is sporting that classic blue eyeshadow of the era, a time when cream shadows were also up and coming. This combination lent to a dramatic painted on effect.
In April of 1970, the NY Times reported on classes for actresses who were having trouble applying every day makeup—"Stage make-up is so different from you wear every day... It's much heavier, you actually build a face." But when it came to blue eyeshadow, Megan was over-applying as was the trend.
MISC.
- Don's secretary Meredith has a TAB on her desk—here's a look at the design of the 1970s can.
- Harry tells Megan that she's a cross between Brigitte Bardot and Ali MacGraw. The latter would break-out in her role as Jennifer Cavalleri in Love Story in December of 1970.
- Don mentions the NY Jets when talking to Megan. This season was the team's first in the National Football League, following the AFL-NFL merger.
- The Manson family (who some believed would kill Megan on the show) gets a very light mention from Don's secretary, who refers to them as "the Manson brothers." Charles Manson was on the cover of Rolling Stone in June of 1970.
- Diana mentions that Don's apartment (before his sunken living room is stripped by Megan's mom) could be in Architectural Digest—but it looks like the covers had an older, stuffier vibe that year.
Here's a look at next week's episode:
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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