Retro Girl

The book discussion group I help faciliate at my library is in the midst of a series on "Working." The books and discussion focus on the concept of work and what that means to many Americans. Last month's book was Working by Studs Terkel. It was a densely written, long book that was a compilation of Terkel's interviews with a wide cross-section of Americans and how they felt about their jobs. It was a tough book to get through, and I was worried about leading the group, but the discussion was excellent; one of the best I've attended.

This month's book is Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy. Written in 1963, Ogilvy, the founder of Ogilvy and Mather, one of the country's leading advertising agencies and the creator of many ads, including the Hathaway shirt man, gives advice on how to be successful in the advertising game. It was a pretty quick read, and interesting to consider how things have changed over the past 40 years.

Of course it was impossible to read this book without thinking about the AMC series, Madmen. One of the things I like about the series is how it shows a segment of society in the post-war, pre-Kennedy assassination years.

This was my early childhood, and the look and feel of the show brings back those early memories. Recently I've found a way to propel myself back into that time. The first is on the Madmen website,
http://www.amctv.com/originals/madmen/ where it's possible to "Madmen" yourself. Another site is a Facebook application where you can "yearbook" yourself into the past. So, here's me as a Madmen character, and my "1962 yearbook photo."