Though we wish it wasn't true, we all knew this day would come. The final season premiere of Mad Men arrives Sun., April 5 on AMC.
But I'm sure you knew that already. There has been so much publicity leading up to the final season of Mad Men, you'd basically have to still be living with only the technology of the 1960s to not know about any of it.
In New York where the 1960s-era drama about a Madison Avenue ad agency takes place, street signs reading "Mad Men Avenue" and "Don Draper Way" were placed near Radio City Music Hall. A bench with that iconic silhouette of Don Draper was also installed outside the Time & Life Building at 1271 Avenue of the Americas. Some New York restaurants also offered lunches of both the solid and liquid varieties for a special $19.69 price in honor of the final season of the show.
However, a recent bit of publicity for Mad Men's final season may be the coolest yet. Mad Men will be officially immortalized in American History now that items from the show have been donated to the Smithsonian.
Cast members Jon Hamm, John Slattery and Christina Hendricks as well as showrunner Matthew Weiner and AMC President Charlie Collier gathered at the National Museum of American History Friday to donate more than 50 artifacts from the show to the institution. These include Don's classic gray suit and fedora, a pack of Lucky Strike cigarettes and a full script of the Season 1 finale with an alternate ending for the episode titled "The Wheel" where (spoiler alert) Don actually attends Thanksgiving dinner at his father-in-law's house instead of staying home.
Cast & creator of @MadMen_AMC were at @amhistorymuseum to donate objects today. Full story: https://t.co/hS0Aq89xLj pic.twitter.com/O1xlCPJMsA
— Smithsonian (@smithsonian) March 27, 2015
Today our @amhistorymuseum received a donation from the cast and crew of the T.V. series #MadMen. Included in the donation were glasses from Don Draper's bar cart, his business cards and Lucky Strike cigarettes; a yellow house dress worn by Betty Draper in Season 1, episode 4; and a gray suit and fedora worn by Don Draper throughout all seven seasons. A total of 50 objects from the show have been donated to the museum. But sit tight, they won't go on display until 2018 as part of a planned exhibition on American culture. A photo posted by Smithsonian (@smithsonian) on Mar 27, 2015 at 12:59pm PDT
If you're planning on flying to Washington, D.C. to see all of the props, costumes and other items from Mad Men, you might want to postpone your travel plans a little bit. Or a big bit. The collection won't be on display to the public until 2018 as part of a planned exhibit on American culture, although some items may be included in the permanent exhibit "American Enterprise" opening July 1, according to Smithsonian.com.
However, if you're really itching to get up close and personal with some real-live items from Mad Men right now, you can head over to the Museum of the Moving Image in New York. The museum recently opened a huge exhibition on the show that includes large-scale set recreations, props and costumes.
Seeing so many real items from the series in person won't replace the Mad Men-sized hole in our hearts when the show eventually comes to an end May 17, but it's better than nothing.
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