From the first year, it seems there was a policy perpetuated by Don of not hiring Jews. By giving the new girl an obviously Jewish name and placing her in the high profile job of Don's secretary may open up a minor plot line. On the other hand, it could be only a symbol of changing times. We have to wait and see.

From the first year, it seems there was a policy perpetuated by Don of not hiring Jews. By giving the new girl an obviously Jewish name and placing her in the high profile job of Don's secretary may open up a minor plot line. On the other hand, it could be only a symbol of changing times. We have to wait and see.

Jane is some real competition for boss-lady Joan. I noticed she has a college degree. I am only guessing, but I bet Joan doesn't. Besides Joan is headed for boring married woman. I'm looking forward to seeing how Jane will fit in with the gang.

PJ, your focus is on the wrong person...
Don has not had a policy against hiring Jews. Sterling Cooper had a policy of noting whether knowledge of ethnicity would affect them positively or negatively. It's more like, (fill in the blank) will be hired when it is to their advantage to do it.

We have seen 'the boys' parade a Jewish man from the basement to work SC's advantage in a sales presentation. Bert Cooper is aware of industry dollars are handled by their competitors by ethnic group and otherwise. Don was reading Exodus only when a wave of interest in travel to Isreal swept them into pursuing the image for Rachel's family's department store (Season 1). It appears to be all about the dollar...

It's not Don...he's got other issues...

Joan went to college. Remember when her roommate told her "in college, when I saw you on campus..."

Don read Exodus hoping to get a handle on the Jewish culture when they were hoping to get the Israeli Bureau of Tourism account.

Greytone - love your Italics. How do you do that?

Greystone- when asked whether there were any Jewish employees available to make the principals of the Jewish department store comfortable as a potential client, Don said that there were no Jews hired on his watch. This was not an uncommon practice in that era. Whether Don is personally anti-Semitic is questionable in light of his affair with Rachel.

Laurie B You are so right. Joan did go to college. I work with a "Joan" who wields her power like MM's Joan, except my co-worker is just pushy based on longevity, not knowledge. Guess my bias got in the way.

I like the perky Jane. She looked so genuinely pleased when she first sat at her desk. And she does appear to know just how to handle herself with Joan and the guys. Actually seems confident.

I don't think she will fall into the trap of sleeping with any of the co-workers. (The other secretaries seem to all have crushes and/or sex with someone on staff)

Not sure if being Jewish is going to be an issue.

PJ... I know you quoted Don acurately, but my assertion is that he did not deliberately prevent anyone from hiring Jewish people as employees. He doesn't give me the impression that he is any more prejudiced than others working in their industry at the time.

In addition, SC already had hired Jews. My post was simply to say:
1) it was not the way society functioned at the time (fully integrated), and
2) it was not to their economic advantage to do so.

I have to take that perspective to enjoy a show that does not represent my ethic group outside the reality of that time....and I continue to hope some other writer/producer will pick up other parallel stories of those who where catalysts or casualties of the acts of Mad Men's primary characters. My premise is that their story would be just as compelling.

He displayed no personal prejudices and slept with women with no regard of their ethnicity or economic level.

When I read the topic I actually wondered why it would matter if Jane were Jewish or not....does it?

You're right again, Laurie B....Exodus was read in conjuction with SC's pitch to the tourist board. I don't mind you keeping me honest at all! I am, after all, aging as we speak...my screenname has to do with the grey in my hair so all will immediately understand and cut me a tiny break like you do...lol

Laurie B...the italics are part of basic html language I learned in a web design class. This forum allows posters to make words bold or italicized.

Place the word/words/sentences you wish italicized between a pair of 'carrots' (Also known as the symbol indicating 'less than' or 'greater than' in math). On my laptop they share upper case space with the comma and period.

When you decide which word(s) to change, place the letter (i or b) between the symbols 'less than/greater than' in front of the word (it should appear as an i or b between a diamond shape). At the end of the word/phrase/sentence, place a '/i' or '/b' between another pair of symbols to end the command.

Use an 'i' when you want italics, use 'b' when you want bold.

I hope I've written this so you understand my instructions without boring every other poster in the forum! Use Preview to see if you get the hang of it....hit cancel to start over again. Be mindful of spaces and punctuation, too! Give me a shout-out when you've got it!

Ciao!

in other words this is manhattan before it became dominated by the jews lol

As others have noted, nothing in Mad Men is accidental or throw-away. Jane's being Jewish will turn out to have ramifications, especially if she starts dating Ken. This will open up some really interesting chat regarding the relations between Jews and Gentiles.

It's also a symbol of the changing times. SC is starting to loosen up vis-a-vis hiring Jewish employees. The new girl has a much more visible position than the poor "schlepper" who worked in the mail room.

And I did catch a note of anti-Semitism in Don's tone in the lst episode when he said to Roger, "Not on my watch!" Implying that he, personally, would never hire a Jewish executive. He did, however, qualify that statement somewhat by saying, "it's just that the Jewish guys usually go to the Jewish agencies."

I think Don was very taken by surprise at his attraction to a Jewish woman. He has not had much (if any) contact with Jews heretofore, and it's part of his evolution that he's learning to deal with them as people, not stereotypes.

In spite of his tone, Don was no worse than those in that industry and society at that time...

It would not be out of character to see any of these people speak words that solidify their position in their social circle. People still do that to this day. Stretching those societal boundaries had not yet occurred, and many who spoke or acted differently were still being ostracized and criticized (i.e., Paul). I could point out more of the underpinnings of 'the good ol' boys club,' but this discussion would deteriorate into the prejudices of the day.

Don was not surprised by his attraction to women of all social strata and ethnicity because it didn't matter to him (in his extramarital affairs). He had picked a wife that fit perfectly in the social circle he wished to function. He used his awareness of ethnicity to his advantage when he could, and worked it so he was never in a position where it was his disadvantage.

I can tell you first hand what was happening within the groups that were being excluded (Jews, Asain, Hispanic, African American, women). Beneath the surface, a roiling dissatifaction with continuing 'business as usual' was brewing. Weiner is setting us up to watch the shift. My warning is avoid viewing these characters as bad or good.

From what we have seen, which character would be the most open-minded? That would be a far more interesting discussion than trying to diefy or ostracize Don for his attitude toward his pretty new, possibly Jewish, secretary.

Greystone, you're absolutely right. Sorry I ever raised the issue. Anti-semitism was no doubt a factor in the business and social spheres of that era and was put into the plot to give it period authenticity. The same goes for the depiction of heavy cigarette smoking and drinking, attitudes toward woman, spouses and children, and everything else which made the mores of those times different from ours.

Madmen is a morality story with Don Draper as the protagonist. I think it is a brilliant production because of the way it recreates the period with real characters who are the same as us.

GailKlein: I agree with you... and I hope Jane becomes more than a peripheral character so we can learn more about Judaism, much like we did Catholicism within MM. I mean, I don't want religion to start taking front-seats to the plotlines about the people, but I think it's another fun aspect dealing with the "Times, they are a'changin').

Greytone: Thanks for the instructions. I don't think I'm doing it right though. I'll keep working on it.

OMG it worked!

:o)

Oops, post didn't take! I think Jane is there not for the jewish aspect, but for the Joan aspect. Her remark to Ken - "and what is your title?"....priceless!!