"1960, I am so over you." Said by Joan into the mirror.

There is some difference in opinion as to when Marshall McLuhan first coined the phrase, "The medium is the message." There is some evidence that it was in his doctoral dissertation which went on to become published as the book 'The Mechanical Bride' in 1951. Also, a book he published in 1964 had the phrase as well.

The only one I would dispute is prix fixe. I'm pretty sure it was in use in fine French restaurants in the 60s. But I could be wrong.

Dr. McLuhan was well known in the 1950s for his premise that "the medium is the message," which emerged from his classification of media into "hot" and "cool.". He published that statement verbatim in "The Gutenberg Galaxy," written in 1961, then made it a chapter head in "Understanding Media," which he wrote in 1963. His book published in 1967 was "The Medium Is The Massage."

It was interesting that Joan used the phrase "The medium is the message". We know Joan is smart but for her to know that phrase would have meant that she studied it in college. Go Joan!!

From the BASKET OF KISSES site:

Have you guys seen the NYT magazine profile on Mad Men? Among other things (it’s long and quite interesting), there’s a bit where Matt Weiner admits to two anachronisms:

“The only really big blunder I made that I was embarrassed about —” he started. “Well, there are two big blunders if you want to dwell on the negative, which is part of my personality.” He smiled. “The big blunder was that Joan quoted Marshall McLuhan. He had a bunch of books out in 1960, but not the one where he said, ‘The medium is the message.’ Unless she was in his class in Canada, she wouldn’t have known. He was probably using it already, but it was not in print.

“The second one was that Betty went to Bryn Mawr, and she talks about being in a sorority, and there are no sororities there. Bryn Mawr was very militant. I feel Betty was part of the shallow end of it because she grew up out there, that was a local school for her. She’s Main Line, King of Prussia or one of those towns. But Maggie Siff, who played Rachel Menken” — the Jewish department-store heiress — “went to Bryn Mawr, and she said that’s wrong.” He sighed. “You do what you can.”

They also mention that a (verbal) fight broke out over the phrase, “I am so over you”. The link is here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/magazine/22madmen-t.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all

And the phrase "prix fixe" dates back to 1883. I expect is was largely used in upscale, big city restaurants, but we have a local institution that opened in 1899 serving locals three meals a day for $8.00 a week (dinner was 50 cents.) Since 1946 it has been serving traditional dinners (7 courses) for one fixed price; the only difference is whether your having dinner or Sunday brunch which has it's own price. No a la carte here, no menus. I have never personally eaten there as it has always been WAY out of my price range.

The meal consists of a first course (fresh fruit cup, tomato juice, shrimp cocktail, melon), a choice of soup (clear broth or creamed soup), lobster a la Newburg, (made from the family's secret recipe), English sliced roast prime rib, pan fried half broilers of chicken, white potatoes, candied sweet potatoes, fresh seasonal vegetable, beef gravy, creamed mushrooms and toast points, sweet rolls, and a choice of homemade desserts and ice creams. Also included are a choice of salads, relishes, homemade bread and rolls, and a platter of homemade brownies and angel food cake accompanies all desserts.

Brunch consists of a choice of first course, (fresh fruit, juices, and melon in season), choice of cereal or French Onion soup, creamed chicken and baking powder biscuits, scrambled eggs and sausage, roast beef hash, sweet rolls, muffins and hot pop-overs. There are homemade jams or jellies on the table and coffee is served constantly. To top off the brunch there are waffles served with hot maple syrup and sherbet.

Anybody hungry??

Betty is not from KOP. She's from Wynnewood, which was still a true suburb, and quite old-money, while she grew up there in the 1930s and 1940s. Even in 1963 when she and her brother inherited the family homestead, it was still primarily an upscale town. The dirty underclass rabble were encroaching, but had yet to turn Wynnewood into Beirut.

I seem vindicated on the McLuhan quote, and I still never heard of prixfixe in the US in the 60s-I also google and get the 1883 date in France-has no bearing here.
No one has adressed I'm good, which I still believe did not exist and owes its birth to religious revivalism in the late 90's. I'm good means not only I am OK but a good, decent person. In the 60's people were not as prudish or uptight as today, contrary to popular belief.

i don't think the word 'bullshit' was used in those days

doreen

here we go again: HE'S NOT GOOD.
In the 60s you said He's not WELL.

@doreen - Oh, to be young again. From Wikipedia: "Bull", meaning nonsense, dates from the 17th century[1], while the term "bullshit" has been used as early as 1915 in American slang,[2] and came into popular usage only during World War II.

That's the historical; now the fact. My dad said "bullshit" every time he caught one of us kids lying and that was in the 50's.

Pierre, I think you're right that the phrase "I'm good" originated in the 1990s but not from religious revivalism (as far as I know) but from urban slang. As rap's popularity spread, the phrase seeped into the vocabulary of suburban teens and ultimately their community. I think it comes from the phrase "It's all good" which then morphed into "I'm good" when describing yourself as opposed to describing the a set of circumstances. Just my experience ...

If this "Heritage Minute" video is true, then the phrase "the medium is the message" was coined at a University of Toronto seminar in '61:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtycdRBAbXk&feature=player_embedded

On the subject of anachronisms, although a different one than those already mentioned, I think I spotted one in the rerun of Season 3, Episode 1. In the shot of Lane Pryce in his office, when he tells Ken and Pete that they'll each be the head of accounts, we see a copy of the distinctive Oxford English Dictionary on the credenza behind him. (This, I suppose, is meant to establish his donnish credentials.) The problem is that it is the compact edition, two volumes plus the supplement all slip-cased together with the magnifying glass -- which was not published in this form until 1987. Even the 2-volume compact edition didn't appear until 1971. I may be wrong, but I thought that's what I saw.