mad men

Anachronism Alert: Last Night’s Mad Men Sullied by Crash Cymbal From the Future

Has Matthew Weiner been spending too much time in Paul Kinsey’s office with a sweater stuffed under the door? Last week, the formerly meticulous Mad Men creator somehow allowed a dictionary published in 1987 into the Sterling Cooper offices of 1963. And now, Vulture has learned, last night’s episode was besmirched by the anachronistic appearance of a too-shiny cymbal. (Warning: Spoilers ahead!)

Last night, an astute reader — who was somehow able to notice this despite the blackface tribute to Al Jolson happening in the foreground — tipped us off that the Zildjian crash cymbal used by the drummer at Roger Sterling’s garden party did not appear to be one that would’ve been available in the early sixties. And a look through these vintage Zildjian catalogs seemed to bear him out.

So we contacted Zildjian, and customer service representative Stephen Pappone concurs: “This cymbal would not have been available in 1963 for three reasons,” he told us. “The brilliant [shiny] finish isn’t something we offered until the late seventies. And the K logo, maybe not until the eighties. Also, an ink level like that didn’t exist until 1975 or so. So this logo here, more than likely, was from the mid-eighties.” At least it helped obscure the keytar player.

Earlier: Mad Men Ruined

Anachronism Alert: Last Night’s Mad Men Sullied by Crash Cymbal From the Future