Oh, come on! Don't be like that! I wasn't trying to be a massive dick, and I am quite possibly in love with you Nomad, so let's leave it at that.
...and I'm sure I know far less than you do. But something nags me here. I know a man who runs a company that dresses sets for anything from BBC dramas to big Hollywood period productions. He has a large terrace house in Ealing and every room is stuffed with objects from every period relating to every situation possible. (Amazing house to roam around, by the way.) He's friends with Barbara Streisand, for example, so it's no small affair. And I know, from talking with him, you cannot get away with any period or stylistic mistakes in this business. As it's very competitive, for example.
So, it seems to me that a company of set and costume designers working on an important US TV series, with worldwide franchise rights, and, to a large extent, basing its appeal on period detail, would be unlikely to get this so catastrophically wrong. Mainly because it would, at best, compromise, or at worst, destory, their future careers.
I don't know, but it would surprise me. I mean, the show was shot in HD, so I feel sure they researched its look quite thoroughly.
In deed, how right you are. I am sure that there is gloss to it as mentioned later in the thread (and as in the linked piece where the "wrong" typewriter is used, but on purpose) . But just read this piece found via BoingBoing (95% rubbish, but sometimes it comes up with gems like this),
An Interview with Scott Buckwald, Prop Master for the Hit TV Show Mad Men.
We had a wardrobe, which is essentially a big vinyl plastic bag that you would put your clothes in. It has a wooden hanger, and it hangs in a closet. You can still buy them at Target but the design is different. There was one scene in which the actress takes this wardrobe out of her closet, lays it on the bed, and pulls her dress out of it.
The problem was that these wardrobes were made out of very thin vinyl. Really, it was just a big vinyl bag, and it’s not collectible like an old Coca-Cola sign or a Barbie doll. It’s not the kind of thing that someone would put away and preserve. It’s as glamorous as the tube inside of a roll of toilet paper. When you’re done with it, you throw it away. There is no collectible value to it.
....
Somebody had one and I e-mailed him and I said, “Look, I need this right away.” So he sent it to me right away, and it was brand new in the package. It was from 1959 or 1960 and the package had never been opened. I got it, opened the package, and the plastic was all dried up. The thing was falling apart in my hands! But it did give me a pattern. We took it to a manufacturer and they were able to take new vinyl plastic that was the same color and texture as the original and build that over the old, rotting-out one. So, $500 later, we had a new wardrobe, and it was vibrant. And there you have it. It was remade.
And
Getting the Sara Lee logo from 1960 was easy, but finding an actual cheesecake box was hard. Again, that’s not very collectible. Pretty much the second after the cake was taken out, the box would have been thrown away, so I looked through pictures of kitchen scenes, hoping to find a cherry cheesecake box sitting there. After looking through 3,000 pictures, I was able to capture every angle of the box and I was able to redraw it on Illustrator and tweak it on Photoshop and then print it out and rebuild the box.
Not related to the above, but still revealing. I find this one hard to believe,
Machine guns, handguns, and shotguns are also props. All weapons on movies are 100% real. When you see Saving Private Ryan or a Sylvester Stallone or Schwarzenegger movie, all those weapons are real. Those are not plastic toy cap guns.
and
I have 25 Beatles Butcher covers in all different conditions. I have a first state of the Beatles Butcher cover album in beautiful condition, still with its original cellophane on it, never been touched.
I feel humbled (not sure if that is the right word) by obssesives like Buckwald
(edit: I guess a guy like him can make Beatles butcher covers with cellophane and make it look quite right though).
