Throwback Thursday: Mad Men's New York, as seen from a 1960 Chevy Impala
Mad Men's first season takes place in 1960, and this ad for Chevrolet was filmed in Manhattan that very same year. During this two-minute spot, follow the red, convertible Chevy Impala as it wends its way through Gotham's streets. Highlights include Times Square (with a shot of the original Ripley's Believe It or Not), Park Avenue, blocks that appear to be straight out of Helen Levitt photos, and even Washington Square Park, where the driver saunters through without notice. (The park used to be open to cars, although by 1960, cars had been banned.)
And if you want some insight into the Greenwich Village of Midge Daniels -- Don Draper's art illustrator girlfriend whose heart really belongs to an unctuous beatnik/proto-hippie -- check out this most glorious of films, "Village Sunday." It preserves 12 precious minutes of the neighborhood when it was really "The Village."
-- Rolando Pujol
