It was the best of ad men, it was the worst of ad men, it was the age of persuasion, it was the age of deception, it was the epoch of ambition, it was the epoch of reinvention, it was the season of prosperity, it was the season of secrecy, we had cigarettes before us, we had whiskey before us.
In the bustling metropolis of New York City in the 1960s lived a dapper gentleman named Donald Draper. Though possessing princely charisma and movie star looks, Don’s past contained crypts yet unexplored. Reared in a brothel and forever haunted by war, Don possessed survival instincts beyond the average mortal. So when a chance to seize stable life arose, Don seized it tighter than his daily Old Fashioned.
With only raw talent and Army paperwork as his tools, Draper picked an unclaimed identity from the wreckage of war - that of Lieutenant Donald Draper, deceased in Korea. Reborn, Don gained ground quickly in the budding biz of advertising on Madison Avenue. Soon he was Creative Director at the solid Sterling Cooper firm, turning slogans into Sterling bank.
At the office each day in his corner suite, Don Draper pitched products like Lucky Strike cigarettes with all the conviction and cunning at his command. He knew which notes worked for each client and played them with virtuosity. Behind the boardroom door, he was equally adroit appeasing executives like Roger Sterling while chasing ambitions for grander recognition and riches.
Outside the office, Don constructed an idyllic suburban tableau complete with exquisite wife Betty and kids in a Westchester manse. His secret past seemed securely buried as he availed himself of all the tailfin era’s refinements and temptations. But the façade relied on perpetual motion. Pausing too long risked exposing the false bottom beneath Don’s American Dream life.
So Don dared not dwell on past sins or linger over bourbon and cigarettes too long lest skeletons escape. Nor could he refuse conquests like advertiser Rachel Menken or secretary Megan when they arose alluring. In daylight, Don stood peerless - creative genius, masculine specimen, epitome of cool in custom suit and tie. But night unzipped dark desires that threatened all Don built in daylight.
As the 1960s unfolded, the zeitgeist turned but Draper stood still. While the youth raised fists and embraced free love, Don's world ossified. The old verities of family, loyalty, and quiet liquor softened without sweetening Don's character. Inside, he remained an imposter awaiting exposure as times transformed. His supreme talent seemed increasingly archaic against a world tilting on its axis.
By 1970, Draper's cloak showed threads. His past emerged, costing the marriage that anchored his fabricated identity. The office too moved on to modern mergers and fluorescent lights. Like the dinosaur, Don faced a changed landscape. So he listened to the tune of the open road and headed West where reinvention first breathed life into the gifted charlatan known as Don Draper. For as long as America churns wide-eyed dreamers and late night highways, there awaits always fresh opportunity for self-invention. The frontier endures.
