As if they were worn in the actual ’60s by an eternally troubled, misogynistic Madison Avenue ad exec, Don Draper’s hat and suit will soon be displayed at the Smithsonian. Vulture reports that the Mad Men anti-hero’s clothes and bar cart will be added to the museum’s permanent collection as part of a widespread canonization coinciding with the final seven episodes of AMC’s hit drama. In a March 27 ceremony, series creator Matthew Weiner will also donate a script with an alternate ending for “The Wheel,” the show’s season one finale.
The Smithsonian festivities are part of a self-congratulatory campaign by AMC and Mad Men producer Lionsgate to milk as much publicity as humanly possible out of the show’s curtain call. So far there are nostalgic events planned at seven different locations in New York, including the Museum of the Moving Image, Alice Tully Hall, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Museum of Jewish Heritage, and New York Public Library, and at least one in Los Angeles at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
AMC president Charlie Collier, who undoubtedly had plenty to do with the show’s final season being split into two, said of the elaborate farewell tour, “A television series unlike any other deserves a send-off unlike any other.” If this is what Mad Men’s goodbye is like, it’s terrifying to consider what the network has in store for The Walking Dead whenever it runs out of fresh humans to propel its story forward. Regardless, Don Draper returns for the final Mad Men April 5.