The Suitcase - S4-E7
Factual error: At the beginning of the episode, the male employees are all discussing James Bond. It is mentioned that 'James Bond goes underwater, he met a girl underwater'. This refers to the plot of the movie 'Thunderball' (it does not occur in the Thunderball novel, nor any novel or film prior to this). The main plot of this episode centres around the Sonny Liston VS Cassius Clay fight in May 1965, and 'Thunderball' was not released until December of that year.
New Business - S7-E9
Continuity mistake: Pima Ryan is standing behind her Hasselblad camera, directing models on set. When the camera view changes her waist-level viewfinder goes from an upright position to being flattened down, without anyone touching it. (00:15:50)
Shut the Door, Have a Seat - S3-E13
Continuity mistake: When Christina Hendricks is about to leave the office, while talking to Don, she is wearing a scarf on her hair. The scarf corner is tucked in her coat collar and then outside, and inside again etc. in alternate angle shots of the scene. (00:38:00 - 00:39:00)
Factual error: When Draper is visiting the department store and they're walking up the stairs, a modern-day gray car (Mercedes Benz or SmartCar) is seen whizzing by in the background. (00:16:20)
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes - S1-E1
Factual error: When the new secretary is being shown around the office, the cover is slipped off an IBM Selectric typewriter. She is told not to be afraid of the new technology, it was made easy enough for a woman to use. The episode takes place in March 1960 (a calendar is shown) and the IBM Selectric wasn't introduced until 1961.
Continuity mistake: Don is called to Bert Cooper's office to discuss Hilton coming into the office earlier that day and his (Don's) lack of a contract. Right after Don enters Bert's office, Bert asks, 'when were you going to tell us about this (Hilton)? ' and you can see the contract (with a blue cover) sitting on the table in front of Lane. There are several more shots of Lane and Roger as they discuss the contract, and it is sitting in the same spot on the table. But after Lane explains that Don must sign the contract, he pulls it from his jacket (not the table) and hands it to Don. (00:15:40 - 00:17:00)
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes - S1-E1
Factual error: The ad team is trying to come up with a new campaign for Lucky Strike cigarettes, since all health claims must be removed. With a stroke of genius, the slogan "It's toasted" is created and approved. "It's toasted" was the ad campaign that debuted in 1917. In the early 60s, it was "Lucky Strike separates the men from the boys, but not from the girls".
Continuity mistake: During the riding lesson scene, the chin strap on Betty Draper's riding helmet disappears, reappears and disappears again over several shots. (00:03:50)
Factual error: At various stages of the discussion between Peter Campbell and his wife regarding the purchase of their co-op apartment, they discuss down payments and mortgages. Although it may be possible to finance a co-op today, in 1960 the buyer would have been expected to pay the total amount up front.
Factual error: At the party in the second half of the episode Don Draper is seen filming indoors with a movie camera without floodlamps. The movie film of that era would have required much more light. And the camera would have made significant noise and require periodic winding, which did not happen.
Shut the Door, Have a Seat - S3-E13
Plot hole: Pierce getting fired would invalidate his work visa. His existing visa would have been for overseeing the management of a foreign firm with a US presence. He would have had to leave the country and reapply for an investor visa. (00:41:25 - 00:42:00)
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes - S1-E1
Continuity mistake: When the show starts, Draper is lighting a cigarette and his left hand is seen next to it. A second later the hand is down and he is raising it again.
Revealing mistake: In the scene where Don Draper rips out his diary pages, while he is flipping them, the last two pages contain the exact same text.
Continuity mistake: The mink Roger purchases for Joan is dark brown. When Joan opens the box, the mink is black. (00:06:45 - 00:07:50)
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes - S1-E1
Continuity mistake: The stripper takes her glove off, but in the wide angle, barely half a second later, it's back on.
Continuity mistake: During her talk with Dr Edna, Betty's twin string of pearls change between lying together, being apart and going underneath her dress on her right shoulder. (00:36:00 - 00:39:00)
Ladies Room - S1-E2
Factual error: During the scene where Don Draper is having an "intimate moment" with Ms. Goldberg on the roof of the Menkens store, crickets are audibly present. Crickets are not present in appreciable numbers on a Manhattan rooftop to produce a sound loud enough to drown out traffic and other ambient noise on 5th Ave. Furthermore, the sound of the crickets is inconsistent with that produced by the native snowy tree cricket. "Crickets chirp at different rates depending on their species and the temperature of their environment. Most species chirp at higher rates the higher the temperature is (approximately 62 chirps a minute at 13°C in one common species; each species has its own rate). The relationship between temperature and the rate of chirping is known as Dolbear's Law. Using this law it is possible to calculate the temperature in Fahrenheit by adding 40 to the number of chirps produced in 14 seconds by the snowy tree cricket common in the United States." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket_(insect)) (00:42:15)
Factual error: Don brings home Sally a new dog for her birthday at the end of the episode. Clearly an oversight considering the girth of the wide muzzle and "blockier" forehead of the dog. This presumably leads the informed viewer to surmise that the dog is a British Golden Retriever, a far fetched tale considering the lack of communication between European and American dog breeders during the cold war era. Taking this assumption one step further, the cream colour of the coat is also an indication of a later time period, as the cream colour was only introduced in the past twenty (20) years for British sub-genus.
Continuity mistake: When Don and Betty are speaking in the bedroom, Betty lights a cigarette with a lighter in her right hand. In the following shot, the lighter has vanished without her putting it down.
Factual error: Pete Campbell looks out of his window at the end, facing downtown. His apartment is on 83 and Park, but the street is one way, headed uptown, whereas park is notoriously 4 lane, two way, with a meridian. While it may be that the apartment was at the back of the building, closer to Lex, Lexington traffic moves south.
Chosen answer: At that time, call girls did not command the same amount of money as they do today. By that standard, the $25 would be considered a high rate. Today's upper-level prostitutes can demand far more for their services.
raywest