This season of Mad Men has been outstanding so far, and there was a scene from last Sunday's "The Golden Violin" that nailed a weirdly shocking reminder of 1961 American culture.
At the end of the Draper family picnic, Don finishes the rest of his beer and then hauls off and chucks the empty can into the woods. Then Betty picks up the blanket and shakes the Draper picnic trash into the grass and walks away. It's these sorts of authentic period-specific details that make Mad Men (and Deadwood before it) so profoundly fascinating.
The American attitude towards littering has come a long, looonnng way since 1961. Even within my lifetime, people would go around just dropping their garbage anywhere. But now it seems shockingly lazy, disrespectful and ignorant. When did things change? I think historians can agree that this PSA had a lot to do with it:
Adding... A sympathetic face was inextricably attached to a noble cause. And things changed. This is one of several reasons why Senator Obama's candidacy is so important. His face is literally attached to the idea of change in a way no other presidential candidate has been able to boast. Here's to hoping this present campaign is equally as successful.