[MAD MEN] [ORIGINAL ART] [WOMEN IN THE WORK PLACE] Collection of handmade "get well soon" cards made for an employee at advertising agency BBDO

Accordion-style folded scrapbook, with fore-edges taped, seemingly as issued. 73 panels used (one entire "side"). 72 handmade "get well soon" cards, with various mixed media used, but all done by hand. The cards are generally in excellent condition, though many (most?) have been loosened from the original glue, and are now laid-in at their places. None appear to be missing. The cards are all addressed to one Carol March, who seems to have been a well-liked employee of the pioneering advertising firm Batten, Barton, Durstine, and Osborn (BBDO). It's unquestionable that March worked in the Art or Creative department, as each of the cards is done with a distinct professionalism. While all of the cards have a warm tone, many have an element of mild bawdieness, with references to sex, alcohol, and other naughty topics. One "Bill Dec" has written a poem: "C is for the cigars you always gave me; S is for the many socks you've darned; R is for the rye you should be drinking; O is for the other artists you have charmed; L is for this loused-up xmas card of mine" [note that many cards have a Christmas theme or reference, indicating that her ailment happened around the holidays]. Another card-giver has very able drawn her on the cover of "Time" Magazine, and written: "Time MARCHes on and CAROL isn't here; MERRY CHRISTMAS To our WOMAN of the YEAR." At least one card is thankfully dated in 1949. Nearly every card is arrestingly well done, but a few are more austere, indicating that the whole department (including some administrative members or secretaries, most likely) participated. Really something that must be seen to be appreciated, this group of well-wishes offers a snapshot in time of one of the great powerhouses of the Advertising Age, which was so memorably captured in the AMC television series Mad Men. Though that series took place about a decade after this one, the spirit of that world is very present here. One can easily picture the office's "Joan Holloway" snapping her employees to attention to arrange this gift for Carol. One of the most enchanting pieces of midcentury Americana that we've handled.…