There's so much we don't know about our "beautiful hunk of mystery" as DD calls him.

What we do know...

He worked, possibly owned a used car dealership shortly after coming back from Korea, and he was found there by the real Mrs. Draper, Anna. I'm not sure, but I think that was in California.

He worked "in-house" for the advertising department of a fur company under the tutelage of an old ad man named Teddy. He was working here when he met Betty, who was modeling in NYC. This was about 1953 or 1954.

I think the jump from the fur company to Head of Creative at SC is the most mysterious part of Don's past. Did he work his way up from the bottom at SC, or did he fake his ad experience and credentials big time to get a mid-level management position?

@Hey Miss Dish I missed you. Great topic here. Well let's see. If Don got out of the army in 52 he must have met Betty within a year or so, as they have been together ten years in63. That does not give him much time to be single. Maybe that is why he still needs to sew his wild oats. Here's a thought. Maybe somehow having a dish like Betty on his arm, helped him meet people in certain circles ,(I am thinking Roger). I think the real Don had an engineering degree and I am not sure why i think that. So by 1954 at the latest he would have been married to Betty.We know he was selling cars in Cali for a while. Somehow he switched coasts. Maybe he commited a crime, and took it on the lam to the east coast. Maybe he rode the rails cross country, ran into his old Hobo friend, and the hobo(who was from New Yorks buisness world gave him Roger's name? Maybe Don is a Russian spy. Maybe it was all their idea to set up his alternate identity, after the commies captured him in Korea. Maybe I am just getting extra stooooopid because it is so late.

I'd like to know more about the "lost years" of Dick Whitman, between high school and The Korean War. If Dick was born in 1926, why didn't he serve in WWII? He would've been old enough. He was actually a little old for The Korean War.

We don't know that Anna found him in California. I believe she worked very hard to track him down; all over the country, if necessary. She could have found him anywhere. Remember he told Adam that he'd been "around . . . mostly here (meaning New York)."

I'd like to see a flashback to Don working with Teddy, the older Greek copywriter and mentor to Don at the fur company. And I'd really like to see a flashback to the first time Don laid eyes on Betty! I'll bet he was struck by the "thunderbolt!"

Deep Dish, Hanna, Hobocode, Gail: Good morning.

I’ve kept a time line since Season 1 for several of the characters. My notes contain contradictions, especially as to Adam’s age, but for the most part, the writers have been consistent.

Hanna, As to Don’s working experience, I, too, wonder about the transition from car salesman to copywriter, from California to New York, from writing advertising copy for a furrier, to a job at Sterling Cooper. Was he hired as a lower level trainee, or had he answered a newspaper ad for a mid-level executive, confidently applied for it, and snagged it?

Gail, I agree with you that the time from Dick’s teenage years to the time he went to Korea is unknown to us. (Could he have been in prison? What education was he able to get?) We know he worked at a roadhouse parking cars (and peeing in the trunks) when he was 15, but that’s about all we know for the years before he went to Korea.

Hobo, Regarding the real Draper’s credentials, I have in my notes “College, Engineer, WWII, builds swimming pools, Lieutenant in Korean War; last 80 days in Reserves, has served 3 years and 6 months.” If I recall correctly Draper volunteered this information to Dick just before the unfortunate accident that killed him.

From my notes: “Don tells Cooper he has been with Sterling Cooper for six years when asked in 1960.” So Don started to work at SC in 1954. He certainly was busy during the years 1951 to 1954. Used-car salesman, relationship with Anna (California?), writing advertising copy for Teddy the furrier (New York?), meeting Betty, marrying pregnant Betty in 1953, and becoming a father in 1954.

@Suzette thanks for the time line, very useful
@GailKlein you are correct about age and WW2 with Don. He could of had a deferment as the sole breadwinner in his lovely childhood home.
There was a small brother and his stepmom, but the mean old bastard of a dad was smolderin in his grave by WW2.

@Gail Klein If Don was 18, in 1944 it is possible that his name came up before the local draft board back in Illinois or more likely Pa. This did not mean he would be inducted into the army. The board may have deferred him because he was the sole source of income for his family, with Poppa pushin up daisies by that time. The local draft boards had a lot of power and it is very possible with a widowed mom and a small child on the farm alone, Don would be given a deferment. Possibly only a temporary one, and as I explained in some other thread, Don would still be eligible for another trip down to the draft board until age 26 which would put him in1952, well into the Korean Conflict
@Suzette great job with the time line. thank you

sorry about the duplication. I got a "to many posts in a short time" message from AMC just another mistake on this site. I had not posted in 8 hrs, and voila, I re-submit my thoughts and they are both here. sorry

I don't think it will happen but I'd love to see a flashback episode of 6-7 years ago at SC. How would the costume department dress Joan? How would she wear her hair? What would her demeanor be - less forthright? She was probably never demure, but maybe it took a few years to reach the position of authority she has now. Would love to see a younger Roger without gray hair, and Bert - maybe no goatee for him?

Oh yeah, forgot - would love to see how different the office would have looked 6-7 years ago.

Great thread, Deepdish!
@Suzette-thx for the timeline. Do you think that Betty was pregnant when Don married her?

Yes, BoyToy, Betty was pregnant when she married Don...she told Dr. Wayne that during one of her therapy sessions.

Oh?! I just had a weird thought...what if Betty was pregnant with another man's baby and Don married her thinking it was his?

Crazy, I know....

I too would dearly love to see some scenes of Sterling Cooper in the recent past-- that would be so cool. I'm very curious to see more about how Don and Joan both came to work at SC! Also Sal, perhaps. We know he's from Baltimore, how'd he end up in NYC? I've said in a few other posts that I really want to see flashbacks to Don and Betty's wedding, their meeting, dating, etc., Joan's younger years... and any and everything that's already been posted! Plus I also really want to see bits of Betty's and Joan's childhoods. Would be so interesting to see more of what made them who they are today.

@Suzette L., I must add my thanks for your sharing your wonderful detailed time line.

@SCfan, whoa, I never thought of that possibility! If she had other boyfriends during her modeling days, it could indeed be possible. I kind of see Betty as more of a "wait until engagement ring is on finger" type, though?

bluegirl, you could very well be right, there...that Betty is a hard one to know for sure just what she might do....a lot like her husband!