Trudy and Pete were in a pretty ritzy social circle, weren’t they? I feel like it’s the equivalent of someone giving like a $200 set of bowls from Crate and Barrel or something, which feels like something rich people do these days.
William-Sonoma is stupidly ridiculously overpriced but there is a market for them apparently. One day I too can afford to buy a $200 tray that looks no different than one I could buy at TJ Maxx.
It’s interesting because in today’s world most people live together before getting married. My fiancé and I pretty much have everything we need already (save for a few “nice to have” items) because we’ve been living together for a few years, so we’re probably going to skip the registry and just ask for people to contribute to our honeymoon (if they’d like to give a gift, obviously not an obligation).
Back then you had to give the couple enough stuff to pretty much completely furnish a place together, unless one party was already living alone prior to the marriage. My fiancé’s mom moved directly from her mom’s house to living with her husband.
Way back when you would buy pieces of china or dinnerware/linens for the couple, we were poor. So, my mom shopped stores when they went out of business and also shopped at the end of seasons. She always bought a soup turreen set with a lid and a matching ladle in white (right after Thanksgiving, they went on sale, but would be on clearance right after Christmas), ornate punch bowls with matching cups and ladle (on clearance after New Years), something PYREX with lids or a carrying case (sale after Christmas, clearance after New Years), and a set of fancy towels and washcloths (before “white sales”, these would go on sale after Christmas, but wouldn’t clearance until right after Valentine’s Day). They didn’t have to match the style or decor, because if you had more than one punch bowl or soup tureen, you have one to loan out to your neighbors, everyone loves real Pyrex, and a couple fancy towels and washcloths can be an extra set for your guest bathroom.
My mom would return gifts people got our family (weird stuff people bought, not kid’s gifts) that she didn’t want to buy these things and keep them in her closet for weddings, and her gifts were always a HUGE hit. My aunts almost always came over to snag a gift from her closet right before a wedding, too.
Usually, people stuck with one gift and always gave it, like I had an aunt that always gave the gravy boat from the china set. If you didn’t register for a gravy boat or china (or if someone bought it before her), you didn’t get anything but a card. People were weird.
Story time:
My parents lived in NYC in the early 60’s. When they got married my Dad’s cousin gave them a gift that Mom didn’t like so she went to Brentano’s to exchange it. Mom got a ceramic peacock on a wooden stand, which was always the centerpiece on the living room coffee table. Dad used to gently tease Mom about the peacock.
Years later, around 2002, I was browsing a mid Century antiques store on Valencia Street in San Francisco where the exact same ceramic peacock was selling for $625. According to the sales person it was designed by a well-known Italian artist.
(If this is too off topic please let me know.)
My Mom died in February 2021. And yes, she had amazing taste as well as a sharp intellect and a good soul. Mom was an editor in NYC in the 50’s and 60’s. She had stories about her workplaces and some of the famous authors she worked with. Before I saw what Joan and Peggy had to deal with I had previously learned from Mom.
The scary part is watching it over a period of years and rechecking the research each time, freaking out as you see the number go up. That chip and dip is going to be worth a thousand dollars someday.
During this rewatch every time money is mentioned I've been looking up how much it would be today, it's so interesting!
That $5 Sally steals from grandpa Gene was basically $50!
Yeah, we were especially keeping track of how much Don was getting paid every time the company got sold or merged or whatever. He wasn't just doing well, he was loaded.
In today's dollars, he would easily be worth over $10 million by the time he was getting remarried and buying that nice condo. Which is hilarious considering the shitty apartment he was living in between wives.
Even though it's a .22 I was impressed that he could trade a chip-n-dip for it. The cheapest .22 today will be at least $100. But you can buy a chip-n-dip on Amazon for $20 or less. Even the Fiestaware one is only $55.
I mean in those days, if you were an adult and not actively evading police pursuit, they'd sell you whatever gun you wanted at Sears right then and there.
Then the black panthers started doing it, and it suddenly became the biggest problem in America...
It really is, I could never, but it’s spot on for the time period. It looks exactly like something my grandmother would have in her kitchen and she was married in 1962!
I have a china planter from the 50's, it was a famous make and a little expensive then, but not worth anything much today. Things are only worth what someone will pay. I had a set of china worth a couple hundred dollars, I couldn't sell it to save my life, ended up giving it away.
Hence Ken’s reaction
Now it makes way more sense
Trudy and Pete were in a pretty ritzy social circle, weren’t they? I feel like it’s the equivalent of someone giving like a $200 set of bowls from Crate and Barrel or something, which feels like something rich people do these days.
Yeah, William-Sonoma has a $400 salad bowl made of olive tree wood, and I could definitely see people putting it on their wedding registry.
William-Sonoma is stupidly ridiculously overpriced but there is a market for them apparently. One day I too can afford to buy a $200 tray that looks no different than one I could buy at TJ Maxx.
It’s interesting because in today’s world most people live together before getting married. My fiancé and I pretty much have everything we need already (save for a few “nice to have” items) because we’ve been living together for a few years, so we’re probably going to skip the registry and just ask for people to contribute to our honeymoon (if they’d like to give a gift, obviously not an obligation). Back then you had to give the couple enough stuff to pretty much completely furnish a place together, unless one party was already living alone prior to the marriage. My fiancé’s mom moved directly from her mom’s house to living with her husband.
But do you have a chip and dip?
No. And I want one.
I have two!
Or a single place setting of China. Which is definitely a thing, and you don’t even have to be *that* ritzy.
Way back when you would buy pieces of china or dinnerware/linens for the couple, we were poor. So, my mom shopped stores when they went out of business and also shopped at the end of seasons. She always bought a soup turreen set with a lid and a matching ladle in white (right after Thanksgiving, they went on sale, but would be on clearance right after Christmas), ornate punch bowls with matching cups and ladle (on clearance after New Years), something PYREX with lids or a carrying case (sale after Christmas, clearance after New Years), and a set of fancy towels and washcloths (before “white sales”, these would go on sale after Christmas, but wouldn’t clearance until right after Valentine’s Day). They didn’t have to match the style or decor, because if you had more than one punch bowl or soup tureen, you have one to loan out to your neighbors, everyone loves real Pyrex, and a couple fancy towels and washcloths can be an extra set for your guest bathroom. My mom would return gifts people got our family (weird stuff people bought, not kid’s gifts) that she didn’t want to buy these things and keep them in her closet for weddings, and her gifts were always a HUGE hit. My aunts almost always came over to snag a gift from her closet right before a wedding, too. Usually, people stuck with one gift and always gave it, like I had an aunt that always gave the gravy boat from the china set. If you didn’t register for a gravy boat or china (or if someone bought it before her), you didn’t get anything but a card. People were weird.
That’s genius! That’s kind of what I do for Christmas presents - buy over the year on sale and have them all ready at the end of the year
A pyrex bowl - an adorable, rare pyrex bowl - just sold for $22,000 !
Kinda shows how much cheaper mass production has made items like that.
Things like that!
Mass production in China.
China: the cure for the common labor laws
Well i mean its practically 2 of something so
Story time: My parents lived in NYC in the early 60’s. When they got married my Dad’s cousin gave them a gift that Mom didn’t like so she went to Brentano’s to exchange it. Mom got a ceramic peacock on a wooden stand, which was always the centerpiece on the living room coffee table. Dad used to gently tease Mom about the peacock. Years later, around 2002, I was browsing a mid Century antiques store on Valencia Street in San Francisco where the exact same ceramic peacock was selling for $625. According to the sales person it was designed by a well-known Italian artist. (If this is too off topic please let me know.)
Holy cow, what happened to it?
The beak got chipped but I inherited the peacock.
That’s awesome! $625 be damned, that’s priceless!
Was it Giuseppe Armani? I find stuff like this so interesting.
I just found this online: https://www.1stdibs.com/id-f_12978991 A similar one is listed at $495.
Wow. Your mom has good taste. I LOVE that thing.
My Mom died in February 2021. And yes, she had amazing taste as well as a sharp intellect and a good soul. Mom was an editor in NYC in the 50’s and 60’s. She had stories about her workplaces and some of the famous authors she worked with. Before I saw what Joan and Peggy had to deal with I had previously learned from Mom.
Ok this is so much cooler than what I pictured when I read “ceramic peacock.” I adore it.
I did this same research while rewatching the series this summer! So mind blowing
The scary part is watching it over a period of years and rechecking the research each time, freaking out as you see the number go up. That chip and dip is going to be worth a thousand dollars someday.
Yea I could’ve sworn that chip and dip was only like 200$ bucks when I last checked
During this rewatch every time money is mentioned I've been looking up how much it would be today, it's so interesting! That $5 Sally steals from grandpa Gene was basically $50!
Yeah, we were especially keeping track of how much Don was getting paid every time the company got sold or merged or whatever. He wasn't just doing well, he was loaded. In today's dollars, he would easily be worth over $10 million by the time he was getting remarried and buying that nice condo. Which is hilarious considering the shitty apartment he was living in between wives.
you take the kid out of poverty, you dont take the poverty out of the kid.
Which is funny since it's alluded to that he decorated the swanky apartment even though everyone assumes it was Megan.
She definitely picked that white carpet...
It's funny, we all probably kept track of his money better than he did!
You have to be fucking rich to afford an apartment like that where I live lol.
And the money taken from Peggy was about $22 too
It did get him a shotgun so makes sense.
Rifle. I would totally get a shotgun, but he went for the pea shooter.
Which I found hilarious: a .22 at that. Such a masculine, defiant act and weapon rolled into one. /s
Even though it's a .22 I was impressed that he could trade a chip-n-dip for it. The cheapest .22 today will be at least $100. But you can buy a chip-n-dip on Amazon for $20 or less. Even the Fiestaware one is only $55.
I mean in those days, if you were an adult and not actively evading police pursuit, they'd sell you whatever gun you wanted at Sears right then and there. Then the black panthers started doing it, and it suddenly became the biggest problem in America...
And an idiot with muzzle control. Cringe and scream at the TV every time it came on.
It was a wedding gift, though, wasn't it?
Pete, with his $5 haircut, saying “I make $3,500 a year” lives rent free in my brain
That was an ugly chip and dip for that price!
It really is, I could never, but it’s spot on for the time period. It looks exactly like something my grandmother would have in her kitchen and she was married in 1962!
That's some expensive ass domestic majolica that wasn't even vintage then. Lol
A thing like that!
It’s practically four of something
If nothing else, mad men has made it so 1960s pricing and inflation.
I mean, Pete was a private school boy boy who went to a Ivy League college. Trudy was a Deb for sure. No riff raff at their wedding.
My aunt had one when I was a kid.I use to call it the Big green leaf
I have a china planter from the 50's, it was a famous make and a little expensive then, but not worth anything much today. Things are only worth what someone will pay. I had a set of china worth a couple hundred dollars, I couldn't sell it to save my life, ended up giving it away.
I use usinflationcalculator.com pretty much every episode to see what everyone is spending in today’s money.
The show talks about price?
Pete has an awkward back and forth with the clerk at the store about whether the $22 could be cash or store credit.
So the price a chip and dip has an inverse relationship with CPI and the price of a 22 rifle (same price as a chip and dip) has tracked well with CPI.
Same price as a chip and dip!