Thanks for your kind response: I wonder: I also saw the movie in the DC area but I can't recall the year. I think I was in elementary school though, so I believe you are correct that it was not a "first run" (or shall we say, first re-release, ) theatre but shown years after the big re-releases. There was a big r"re-elease" in '54 in the U.S., I'm guessing NYC, but not sure. So if you are correct, that's why you and I were able to see it in the mid to late fifties at neighborhood theatres.
Thanks for your comment, as my husband was wondering about this too. Makes the show more fun, doesn't it, when we respectfully challenge something that may not click with our memories!
K.

Remote controls were available by 1962. They looked like a cigarette pack, with 3 or 4 buttons on the top. The buttons generated ultrasonic signals which would be received by the TV to control the remote functions.

My concern about the TV is that it started instantly. If this were a fully transisterized TV then instant operation is possible. However, fully transisterised TVs were only just becoming available in the early 60's and were mostly big console models. In 1962, a small portable TV in a hotel room (even the 'Savoy") would have used tubes, which take a little longer to warm up. There should have been a lag of say 20-30sec before the image appeared on the TV.

GWTW could have appeared on TV in the NY area by 1962. Thus Betty and her daughter could have watched it from the comfort of their living room.

If these are the only period issues we have to worry about, then I think we're ok.

Heck, in watching the marathon last week, I only noticed 2 anachronisms in the 13 episodes. Preaty good if you ask me.

1) During the party at Midge's appartment, one of the records shown in passing (Miles Davis Sketches of Spain) had a record label that was not used in 1960.

2) The background music during Betty's fantasy scene was a Bosa Nova tune that was not released until 1963-64.

Again, if this is all we have to worry about.....

when betty made the gone with the wind comment did sally not give a "what the heck are you talking about' look ??

Re: The Xerox machine. I work at Xerox. There were the "copiers" and the "duplicators". This model was a duplicator. Ran faster and more copies per minute. And yeah, they were huge.

Velcro blood pressure cuff? Plastic laundry baskets? Were these items commonplace at that time? I remember old blood pressure cuffs wrapped around and tucked in like a sash. We had wicker baskets, I don't remember plastic back then.

Did anyone else notice the miniskirt on the passenger in the Mohawk Airlines ad? Season 2 begins in February 1962? A short mini like that did not appear on the fashion scene until 1968.

I think it is possible that Betty read Gone With the Wind and told her daughter about it. But then again, it has been a long time since I read the book, so I'm not remembering how close it matched the movie.

Good eye, Hugh and Doc. As for Gone with the Wind, even if it was in the theaters, who would take a 7 yr old to see it - 4 hours long and mostly adult content. I think not.

Gone With The Wind was shown on television once a year starting in 1956.

Regarding GWTW: I was 7 when my grandmother took me to see it. All four hours. I don't recall being antsy or disturbed (am much more so today esp since I now live in Atlanta) but my mother recalls that my "review" of the movie was that "the fires hurt my eyes, everything burned and everyone dies".
My point in relaying this story is that I think people were concerned in a diff way about kids and what they were exposed to than they are today.

mia8485 -- Sorry, but you're wrong. GWTW was not shown on television until 1976. You're thinking of "The Wizard of Oz," which made its television debut in 1956.

Oh dear... SORRY, SORRY, SORRY.. I shouldn't post anything while on allergy meds!

Yes, GWTW was not on tv until 1976. I had looked it up this morning and, reading too fast and through a little brain fog, got the info wrong.

Peggy Sue, if the mockup showed a "shortish" skirt, I might agree that it was the art directors flight of fancy.

But the woman (stewardess or passenger?) greeting the man at the escalator is wearing a real butt skimmer of a dress totally from the late sixties.

It's really no big deal, except for the fact that this is a show that prides itself on accuracy. I read an article about the pains they went to to replicate the 60s tufted headboard in Don and Bettys bedroom, as well as all of the shows other minutiae, so the costuming gaffe in the mockup was quite unforgivable.

Velcro was invented in 1941 so by the 1960s it would have been adapted for all sorts of uses, including BP cuffs.

My first OBGYN smoked like a chimney and that was 1982/3, and the nurse flitted in and out but did not stay.

FWIW Mohawk Airlines' stewardess' outfits were designed in connection with Saks Fifth Avenue. In 1962 they were above the knee but not THAT much (artistic license with the mock-up, I'd say, not a representation of reality.)

My family didn't travel in the same financial circles so I can't judge but we didn't get a dishwasher (with 9 kids, there were a lot of dishes) until I was in high school circa 1965-1969. I don't remember a room air conditioner until nearly that date either. Box fans in the windows, yes. A/C, no.

Auburn Annie, I agree with your dates on the AC, DW--window fans were the only thing that kept us from dying of the heat! I recall what a huge deal it was when we got central AC (1961 approx.)--we felt like we'd gone to heaven. And a dishwasher was an utter luxury even in 1965--KitchenAid I believe was the "pioneer"...we got a dishwasher (happened to be KitchenAid) about when you did and it lasted 25 years! Believe it or not!

I would have started a new conversation but can't figure it out, so anyway...... for a hilarious recap of Mad Men go to Kristen Amant's "Attention Deficit Theater". It's hysterical!

http://www.unboundedition.com/content/view/7298/50/

STOP with the GOTCHA anachronisms!! Can't you just suspend yourself in time versus dissecting every word, prop, machine, fashion etc..... It appears the producers have gone through excruciating lengths to get everything right and some of you sit there and just watch the show to find something anachronistic!!

Either you are a believer or not of this show. If not then go watch the History Channel and the rest of us can enjoy this amazing show!

Lighten up Henry B !!! It's all in fun. I think I speak for everyone who contributes to this thread that we all LOVE the show as much as you do.

It speaks to the quality of this program that we are not asked to supend belief. The whole overall effect of the series is a nostalgic trip back to our youth. So when we see an anachronism, it's like an annoying pimple on our collective asses that we simply must scratch.

Gotcha is an innocent pastime that we indulge in as we breathlessly await the next new episode. It's just a sign of our age...a bunch of cranky old farts who came of age in the 50s and 60s.

You said it, hugh! We're just a bunch of cranky old farts who came of age in the 50s and 60s...and WE LIKED IT! (to quote Dana Carvey in SNL as the old fart he did so hilariously)

Peggy Sue: Geez, what's wrong with the hair styles now?

Gone With the Wind had a huge premier in Atlanta in 1961 and it was then shown all over the country. 1961 was the 100th anniversary of the start of the civil war and that is why they decided to re-release it at that time. Olivia de Havilland was the only surveyor of the original stars of the film and she was present for the event.

You may have a point, Peggy Sue. I was thinking about the women in that movie Goodfellas.... same era and their hairstyles and do's were right on. Lots of high hair and flips, and hair spray! What about Joan, Hildy, Lois, etc. To me, Joan looks about right.