So you're thinking his momma was a JEWISH prostitute?? Oy!

If there is significance to the ham, maybe because his dad was a real pig.

He was a farmer. Probably the only meat he ate was the meat he produced from his own pigs. In the Depression, even eating ham was probably a treat.

I thought the poignancy was simply that he was unearthing lighter memories of his father. Don's dad couldn't have been a beast at all times, but I think Don's memories are largely dominated by really bad ones. For once, when he pictured his dad he saw him enjoying ham and candy.

I just thought it was a pun because the actor's name is Hamm.

Nancy - I didn't even think of that. That's probably it, or they're making a play off the egg at the end - ham and eggs. I just assume there's a significant plot point to everything they do, and maybe they just like to have fun with us. It works.

Don is definitely not a Jew -- see the live chat AMC did with Matthew Weiner:

http://blogs.amctv.com/mad-men/2008/07/online-chat-with-matthew-weiner.php

I think he liked ham because pigs were something that only brought you one thing..meat. Cows provided milk and when they got too old, you could use them for meat. Horses provided transportation and helped plow the fields. A pig just got fed until it got fat and then you ate them. A lot of money was put into them before they were ready to eat. So, most farmers bought ham, bacon and other pork items instead of raising them. It was a luxury.

Before Don even uttered the word 'ham', 'ham and beans' came immediately to mind for me. I think it is a clever pun certainly but truly is a down home item a farmer would eat.

I keep thinking back to the episode Babylon in Season 1, which might be the best of all. That's the one with the whole Israel tourist pitch, and Don's interest in Rachel, which really kicks off their relationship. She was the only one Don confesses his past to. In this episode, Betty is reading Babylon Revisited, a collection of F. Scott Fitzgerald short stories, which includes A Diamond as Big as the Ritz, which ties into the stable guy's come on, and also the Babylon episode. I just got the sense that the writers are cleverly keeping the theme alive, and maybe we should re-visit Babylon.

Nancy, I thought the same thing...kind of like in the X-Files...David Duchovny's character was FOX Mulder, and the show was on the FOX Network....

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