Well I guess we have to defer to Weiner on that. Question: What is the "Main Line" and why is it called that?

The Main Line is the train line that goes west out of Philly and has most of the waspier, richer, elite towns along its line. It's the Philly equivalent of Fairfield County or the North Shore of Chicago.

Bryn Mawr is on the Main Line.

I am surprised at Don and Betty's choice of Ossining--it's really a working class town with a few nice neighborhoods. I don't know if Don had any real access to the right neighborhoods then--he doesn't pretend to be a WASP or anything--meritocracy is more his speed. He's not really an aspirant in that way, as the Old Kentucky Home episode showed. Indeed, that's partly what Connie likes about him.

I think the obvious metaphor that Sing Sing provides nearby is part of the reason for setting their home in Ossining.

I don't usually like to use Wikipedia per se, but this is pretty basic info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Main_Line

I wonder if Weiner located the Drapers in Ossining because Ossining was the home of writer John Cheever. Many of Cheever's 1940s and 1950s short stories dealing with suburban angst are set in a fictitious community called Shady Hill, which apparently had a lot in common with Ossining. If you get a chance, read "The Stories of John Cheever." Don Draper would fit right in.

I too was surprised at the choice of Ossining. During the first few episodes of Season 1, before the town's name is mentioned, I had assumed the Drapers most likely lived in Connecticut...

It's interesting too because we now know Betty hates Ossining, so I suppose Don must've liked it for some reason. It's likely that as Betty Crocker says, due to Don's background he probably just didn't know (back in the 50's when he and Betty were newlyweds-- he's picked up a few things since then) where "the right" suburban towns/neighborhoods were. Manhattan at the time wasn't considered ideal for raising kids, so I'm sure that's why they went upstate, but it is curious why Ossining in particular was chosen. The Cheever theory (especially because of MW's choice to give the Drapers a Bullet Park Road address) and the Sing Sing allusions are both very good possibilities.

Laurie B., the Main Line area is named that because it sprung up around the "main line" of the Pennsylvania Railroad. HTH!

Cheever--yes, that makes perfect sense. And again, the prison.

I know Weiner has denied being inspired by the 1960 novel Revolutionary Road, but there really are some similarities btw MM and that book (which became a movie last year with Leonardo and Kate WInslet). That novel was all about suburban angst and a golden couple who wants to break out of the conformity of his life, but when the husband finally gets a real shot at career success, that dashes his wife's dream of moving to Paris and traps her in a bleak future of suburban drabness and dissatisfaction. (SPOILER: The wife dies a tragic death at the end, but other than that, there are some similarities btw the male and female characters and Don and Betty. That novel was set in Fairfield County, CT though, so perhaps Weiner didn't want to be that true to the book, and drew on Cheever as well.

Betty Crocker, excellent reference to Revolutionary Road. Another suburban-angst film I've been thinking of is Ang Lee's The Ice Storm. In another thread, a poster predicted that by later in the 1960s, Don and Betty would be perfect candidates for "key parties." There's an almost painful key party scene in The Ice Storm, which is set in the early 1970s. I can just Don trying to guess which set of keys in the basket belong to the most luscious neighbor.

OMG--that Ice Storm in 1973 was one of the most important events of my young life...we were out of power for a week and all these people came to stay at our house because we had two fireplaces and a big stone barbecue outside that had an oven. We lived in the woods and everything was covered--it was like a crystal world. And for a while, we couldn't even leave b/c we lived on a hill and until the ice melted all we did was slide around--we almost slid into a ditch and down a hill.

At some point, my parents shipped us off to a family friend whose power finally came back on so we could sleep comfortably and eat real meals. Then a few days later we came home.

And I lived in the town right next to New Canaan and used to go to the stores in the movie.

So that movie really struck a familiar chord.

That was definitely more 70s than early 60s, obviously, but that was more my youth anyway. I was only 18 months old when Kennedy was shot.

I thought about that exact thing btw--that Don and Betty will certainly partake of the more experimental social activities of the 70s like the key party.

As I have told you many times, the real "Mad Man" that this series was based on lived in Briarcliff and then Scarborough, much more upscale areas although right near Ossining.

http://blogs.amctv.com/mad-men/talk/2009/10/this-board-is-o.php#comments

In fact, I believe that Briarcliff where I lived myself and was friends with the son of the person who this show is based on, was one of the wealthiest areas in the US. Ossining which is next door was very mixed especially in 1963 with the Village being more middle or lower class and the Town being a bit higher.

John Cheever lived on Cedar Ln. which is on a hill overlooking the Hudson and is not in the Village and it was even thought odd that he would chose this place to live in unfashionable Ossining because normally you'd find someone like him in Briarcliff, Bedford, Chappaqua or Greenwich, Ridgefield etc

Montgomery: who is the show based on?

HI Helen, troll alert.

He's a whack job. Most of his stuff was removed by AMC today. Click on his name. Real creepy guy.

What about New Rochelle? - that's where Rob & Laura Petrie lived.

What color is the sky in your world? And how do you decide which voice in your head speaks when? It must get confusing.

Jeez Louise, this Forum is just like that kid's game, Whack-a-Mole....as soon as we squash one whackadoodle, another one pops up.

I did it again! Darn my hanging comment; must learn to not feed the trolls.

Thank you, Betty Crocker and Cattychick. I agree that your Sing Sing, Cheever and Revolutionary Road premises may answer my question about the selection of the Ossining location. I continue to be surprised, however, that a place that far out of character demographically and socially was the choice. Weiner has been so careful to use accurate early-60s wardrobe, hairstyles, cars, furniture, expressions, news stories, advertising campaign styles, booze brands, etc., etc., that Ossining's lack of credibility is all the more noticable.

Speaking of noticable, I see this new thread has already been invaded by the angry, bitter, nastymouth trolls. You can virtually smell their foul breath and see the fumes rising from their inchoate rage. I've signed up here strictly to discuss this very original show, Mad Men, with others who find it thought-provoking. Evidently those trolls are here for no reason except to spew their bile at the rest of us.

professor-what University do you teach at?

Ossining was a strange choice but it was quite a bit nicer in 1960 than later and had some fine properties. According to The Exurbanites most ad men went to Conn. I grew up in Briarcliff at the same time and none of my friends fathers were in advertising, the occasional art director aside. Briarcliff was not wealthy then, solidly middle to upper middle. There was no Wilson 4 phone number only Wilson 1 although there was a Carvell between Ossining and Tarrytown on Rte 9 as noted. Unlikely that a teacher would have been showing the eclipse as it was Saturday. I remember it well, third grade, as well as the building of the reservoir in 723, its still there but the pond was not that great. However, it likely means the Drapers lived in Chilmark just adjacent.

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