Great post about the names! I'll take a stab at Dick Whitman.

Well, Richard was the 8th most popular name in the 1920s. It also means "Powerful Ruler," and that ties in well with his personality and his ability to set the rules regarding contact with his family, of which of course he wants none.

His family grew up on a farm, and Whitman is an old English name meaning lively and quick--neither of which Don seems to be unless it's absolutely necessary. He's more reserved and deliberate.

But he has lived by his wits. I keep thinking about the story of Dick Whittington and His Cat.

Hi fifty-two!
Well, we know where the name Dick came from. Sadly based on his mother's threat!

All I can think of as far as his last name is Whitman's chocolates. The first brand (I think) to come with a guide to what each piece is.

Hmmm...wonder what that means?
Don Draper/Dick Whitman has no guide.

And as Forrest Gump's mama said "life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get".

I always thought the same thing, except with his first name. Don is the alpha male, the Don, as in the Godfather sense. "Don" Draper.

Whew, finding & analyzing every aspect of the show is getting weary. Thinking that everything has some symbolic meaning is ruining the fun of watching Mad Men for me.

We already know why he was named Dick. Draper is after Draper Daniels, the 1960's advertising legend. As far as the Don and the Whitman I haven't a clue and I'm ok with that.

How about Roger Sterling? Did you know that 'roger' is another word for 'shag' in English slang? And sterling, obviously, being the type of spoon with which a rich kid's mouth is born and fed.

Hi 485Madison!

I didn't know about Draper Daniels.

I know, sometimes I feel like we are analyzing the analyzing!!! I don't know why this show does weird things to me!
Maybe Matt W. and crew are sending us hidden messages in each episode (subliminal) to have total mind control...it's working for me!
I am officially a MM zombie!!

Well, 485Madison, I take it you won't mind if we carry on quietly without you, then? If you don't care for the topics others have posted, you can always start one of your own, Or are there limitations?

Wow, the Whitman Chocolates and Godfather Don insights are fabulous! Great ideas!!

Hi fifty-two!
OK, I am about to pull a Freddy Rumson! Roger is English slang for shag!!!

So, if I understand this, his English name is Shag Sterling! OMG!! Too funny!

I recall that last night on the main thread @jhhugo had a good riff on the significance of the name 'Dick Whitman." He went back to "Nixon vs. Kennedy" episode to further tie Dick Whitman to Richard Nixon. Nixon of course went by the nickname 'Dick,' he was born in Whittier, CA and he was educated at Whittier College. Dick Whitman turned out to be an up-by-your-bootstraps kind of guy like Nixon was. He did what he needed to do to get ahead. After that, jhhugo and I diverged on the similarities between the two figures.

60schild-- I kid you not! And Rumson-- that one's just too easy. Alcoholics were frequently called "rummies" back in the day. One example-- Walter Brennan as Bogart's sidekick in "To Have and Have Not". (One of my desert island movies!)

DDEsq-- I'm having a hard time picturing Don Draper and Dick Nixon simultaneously. Sorry, just too much history there!

fifty-two -
Another similarity. Both Dicks have/had heavy five o'clock shadow. Most caricatures (?sp) of Nixon have him with one. But yeah, it's tough.

"But he has lived by his wits. I keep thinking about the story of Dick Whittington and His Cat."

Fifty-Two, you and I are on the same wave-length there. I've been thinking of Dick Whittington and His Cat since I first heard the name Dick Whitman. Both Dicks start out as poor boys and through twists of fortune strike it rich.

I also thought, of course, of Walt Whitman. I think that's probably a closer connection than Nixon. When we get glimpses under the Don Draper mask at Dick Whitman, we see a man who reads poetry, and might well be a poet. A man interested in people, ahead of his time in being sensual and sexual, etc.

@52: Re a draper dealing in cloth. In Don's case, it's whole cloth!
A fabrication, from nothing.

Mob hit-- good one!

What about the name Joan Holloway? Is she grabbing for a brass ring that will turn her finger green?

I for one truly enjoy analyzing the show. Perhaps it's because I actually miss my literature classes from college. I think one should never stop learning new things, and MM and the discussions here are small ways of exercising my mental muscles.

As for this discussion -

I love the juxtaposition of the names Dick and Don. They represent the two parts of one man. One is earthy, raunchy, and low-brow, while the other is elegant and powerful. Dick/Don is both, but the two parts of him collide and cause a lot of inner chaos. I can never decide if Don/Dick is trying to rid himself of Dick Whitman, or if he's trying to meld the two parts together.

The name Dick Whitman currently uses is a 'draper', as in it's thrown loosely over him, shifts, and occasionally falls away. Without the name Don Draper, the Okie from Muskokee farmboy would literally be naked--you'd see his 'privates', or his 'richard'. He is the epitome of wealth and prestige in 60s America, he is a White-man.

As a communicator, he is like Walt Whitman, a great word-smith and soul-searching poet, who wrote in his poem 'Song of Myself": “it is you talking just as much as myself…I act as the tongue of you”. A truer statement of the relationship between speaker and audience has never been written.

fifty-two: I have to disagree with you on Draper and Ogilvy's theories of advertising. Ogilvy hated billboards, didn't really understand radio or TV, and believed advertising could be quantifiably measured. He honestly felt it could be made into something akin to a science, with a dash of creativity thrown in to make it interesting to the consumer. Don Draper believes nobody really knows how well ads work, that it's not a science (like when he talks to the folks from Belle-Jolie Lipstick after having just sold them an idea).

Don's theories would be far closer to those of Leo Burnett, who believed in the 'inherent drama' of any product and the need to bring that to the attention of consumers. Witness how every one of his ads tell a story. His ads are a lot more similar to those of Hal Riney (who helped re-elect Reagan with his 'It's morning in America again' campaign).

There are similarities between Draper and Ogilvy, both 'manufactured' their personae, and both would agree that they feel more creative after a drink or three. When the Jai-Alai guy claims to know Don's tricks because he's read Ogilvy, Don says "So why don't you go with David Ogilvy?" perhaps suggesting he doesn't really agree with the way business was done at Ogilvy & Mather. As with nearly all things in Mad Men, the writers like to reference one thing while actually talking about another, and I believe Ogilvy is a bit of a red herring.

Wow, Artie-- I really appreciate your illuminating comments and the correction regarding Ogilvy. I was basing a connection to Don on the little bit I knew of his theories, I admit. Wasn't he famous for saying advertising was just salesmanship? I look forward to reading up on Burnett and Riney.

One more play on the name Draper-- Don pulls the drapes across the parts of his life he doesn't want to remember or others to see.

I enjoy the "analyzing" It's thought provoking and and brings me new insights. Keep up the good work. I agree Dick/Don....Dick being the raw, low brow and merges into Don the smooth, polished professional Don Juan. Funny about the 5'oclock Nixon shadow....

Well, Dick is a metaphor for the penis his mother said she'd cut off if she got pregnant...
Don Draper is the name Dick stole off the dead soldier because, speaking metaphorically, Dick wanted to be someone other than himself.

Don is named after Draper Daniels - a Chicago ad guy. You might enjoy this story:

By Deep Dish on September 13, 2009 11:16 AM
Hello all Maddicts,

Just came across this article about the real Don Draper, yes, the REAL Don Draper, the legendary Chicago ad man that MW admits was the inspiration for DD. I think you'll enjoy it.

The real Don:

http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/August-2009/I-Married-a-Mad-Man/

BTW: Oz did make a few corrections on this story that you can see on the ep305 site, and his stuff was on target. Don Draper was based "in part" on this guy. But I hope you enjoy the article. Love the roll of nickels part, a real love story.

Elizabeth is the name of two famous princesses. And if you spell Betty's last name "Hofstaat" it means "royal household".

I'm having fun with this, don't mind me!

I always thought that Rachel Mencken was a play on words for H.L. Mencken, the journalist and satirist. Mencken was famous for his quips, one of which was, " No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public."

And Joan means "God is gracious". Too funny!

So Joan Holloway means a well-endowed woman who is chasing something hollow. Perfect!

Sally is a nickname for Sarah. Sarah means "princess".

But I see Sally sallying forth to separate herself from such a simpering, stunted status.

Cattychick, you probably won't get this reply since the thread's dead, but your Mencken reference is very clever. And what a quote! Can I quote you/him? It's so apt for so many situations!

I've given up with the name game. Salvatore Romano means Roman savior, and who can make anything from that?

Or Pete Campbell? He's always in the soup?