Mad Men Cast donate Relics to Smithsonian Museum

Jon Hamm, Christina Hendricks and John Slattery as well as series creator Matthew Weiner were present when donating the props to the museum.

This Friday the Smithsonian National Museum of American History was displaying some of the iconic items from the ‘Mad Men’. ‘Mad Men’ is the renowned series on advertising in the 1960s that is soon ending its turn. The presentation ceremony was attended by show creator Matt Weiner and three of the shows cast members which included Jon Hamm, John Slattery and Christina Hendricks.

The president of AMC Charlie Collier at the ceremony stated that all good things come to an end and that all great things come to the Smithsonian. He also stated that all of the people associated with the show are delighted that the series will live in the Smithsonian as a piece of American popular culture.

The show creator Matthew Weiner stated that as a child he visited the Smithsonian just like most of America. He said that when he heard about this opportunity he was delighted. The cast has donated more than 50 artifacts which mostly belong to the fictional ad man Don Draper, his family and business associates.

These artifacts include props, clothing and drawings. However these artifacts will not be available for the public to see until 2018 when the museum has planned an exhibit on American culture. Although some of the items /4/be seen in the permanent exhibit ‘American Enterprise’ which is set to open on July 1st. 

Well the most striking examples of the ‘Mad Men’ donations include meticulous period clothing which includes the yellow dress that is worn by Betty Draper in season 1 and the blue floral apron that she wore with the dress.

Apart from this there are also a lot of accessories such as watches, a shoe horn, sunglasses, a travel alarm clock and the accessories bag that Don brought on his trip to Hawaii with his second wife Megan. Then there are also two bottles of liquor which includes a Canadian Club and a bottle of Stolichnaya along with glass tumblers and even two packs of cigarettes. 

Moreover a full script of the season finale from the first season has alos been donated. The season finale is titled as ‘The Wheel’. Most of the items that have been donated to the Smithsonian are already on display at the Museum of the Moving Images in Astoria, New York and will be coming to the Smithsonian pretty soon.

Along with all these items are the famous grey suit and the iconic fedora that the Don Dapper wore. Weiner stated that what he loves about the items of ‘Mad Men’ being here is that they are for the most part the actual objects and not recreations. He also stated that the entire cast is glad that they saved these things and recreated these things. 

These ‘Mad Men’ objects will be put along with more than 7000 objects in the entertainment collections at the American History Museum. This section includes the original Howdy Doody and Kermit the Frog puppets, Archie Bunker’s armchair and much more. 

Cast & creator of @MadMen_AMC were at @amhistorymuseum to donate objects today. Full story: http://t.co/hS0Aq89xLj pic.twitter.com/O1xlCPJMsA— Smithsonian (@smithsonian) March 27, 2015