On AMC's Mad Men, attention to detail includes appliances in the Drapers' kitchen

Much has been written about the painstaking detail that goes into every costume, set decoration, and cocktail on Mad Men, the hit drama on AMC about the advertising industry in the early 1960s.

We’ll leave it to the fashion scribes to decide whether the lapels on Don Draper’s suit and the furniture at the Sterling Cooper ad agency were appropriate in the season-three premiere on Sunday, August 16.

What we’re interested in are the appliances you see on the show. From that admittedly narrow perspective, a standout image from the premiere had to be the electric cooktop that Draper, played by Jon Hamm, is seen standing over in the opening sequence as he warms some milk for his pregnant wife, Betty (January Jones). The photo, courtesy of AMC, shows the Drapers’ kitchen.

The way the camera lingers over the glowing-red coils, the appliance definitely conjures a specific place in time. (As do those knotty-pine cabinets and the plaid wallpaper in the kitchen.) We didn’t test cooktops or ranges in 1963, the year in which season three is set. But in a 1962 report on ranges, electric models did figure more prominently than gas models. Some of the first electric ranges we tested back in 1938 actually included a cigarette lighter, a feature the chain-smoking Draper would definitely appreciate.

It’s doubtful that a television drama set in 2009 about a well-to-do ad exec would feature an electric coil range. (State-of-the-art electric induction cooktops and ranges would stand a better chance.) But coil ranges are still very much around. In our latest report on cooking appliances (ratings of all products available to subscribers), a 30-inch model from GE was among the top-scoring models of all types. It’s even available in stainless steel, although anyone going for the Draper look should stick with traditional white.—Daniel DiClerico | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

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