Well, we’re going to miss Don Draper and “Mad Men.” But it’s never too late to learn more about Don.
Let’s see … He was born in 1924 and, according to one of the show’s episodes, he was a colicky baby. Was that an early sign of inner turmoil, which showed up later in Don’s being constantly dissatisfied with his relationships and always trying to escape from having to reveal his true self?
When he was born, there was a drink named for President Calvin Coolidge, called the “Keep Cool with Coolidge” cocktail. It was made up of raw eggs and fruit juices.
A man named Bruce Barton wrote a book arguing that Jesus Christ was the world’s first ad man. So even as a baby, Don was surrounded by hype.
He was surrounded by sexism, too. An ad for Packard’s automobiles said that men refuse to buy their wives Packard Six cars because they’re too powerful and would give the women dangerous ideas.
Born the same year as Don was Doris Day, of whom the pianist Oscar Levant would say, “I knew her before she was a virgin.”
Let’s face it. Don was surrounded by “image” all his life. It’s no wonder that, as an ad man, he’d prefer his outer self to his inner one. That made him flawed but also mysterious, because we’re left to wonder if, where Don Draper is concerned, there’s any real there there.
I’m Tom McBride, and that’s my perspective.
