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Real Advertising Careers of the 1960s


October 1, 2008 – February 28, 2009
Location: Rare Book Room Hall Cases
Sponsor(s): Hartman Center
Artist(s): Various

This exhibit was inspired by the popularity of the AMC television series Mad Men, which centers on the lives of executives at a fictional advertising agency in the early 1960s. The series has generated much discussion among viewers, as well as among present-day advertising industry professionals and media outlets. Drawing from materials in the collections of the Special Collections Library’s Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History, the exhibit highlights the real-life careers of 1960s advertising professionals who held positions in four of the types of agency occupations depicted on the television series: copywriters; creative directors; art directors; and account executives.


This exhibition was sponsored in part by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation.