Edited by Jim Heimann (Taschen, April 25, 2 vols., 720 pages, $59.99)
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This story originally appeared in the April 20 issue of The Hollywood Reporter.
Want to dress like Don Draper? Go to a vintage clothing store. Want to understand how he saw the world? Flip through this book.
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In two handsome volumes — on the ’50s and ’60s — Taschen reminds us that advertising is some of the best and most enduring pop art of the 20th century.
Talented and creative graphic artists and writers flocked to Madison Avenue after World War II, when advertising itself changed. A more freewheeling, less factual approach emphasized clean layouts and humorous copy. The groundbreaking 1960 VW “Lemon” ad (marveled at inside Sterling Cooper on Mad Men) exemplified the new approach.
The ads also chart cultural revolutions: Sexism gives way to a tinge of feminism, black faces appear, mod fashion and graphics pop up. Yet it’s startling how different the world was. More than the cigarette ads, airline ads surprise the modern eye. Real food and service in coach? Amazing.
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If only there were comprehensive captions. It would be nice to know the Mad Men behind the images.
Mid-Century Ads: Advertising from the Mad Men Era, ed. by Jim Heimann (Taschen, April 25, 720 pages, 2 vols., $59.99)
Images (top to bottom):
1. A space age housewifes’s kitchen becomes “the livingest room in the house.”
2. Doyle Dane Bernbach told VW to call its car a lemon, and an ad legend was born.
3. Liquid lunch without the punch. Campbell’s suggested a dash of Worcestershire sauce.
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