Last but not least, Roger’s Derby Day Garden Party was a study in uncomfortability. The blackface was a shocker, but then you remember that it’s 1963 and you kind of chalk it up. Hard to believe this was acceptable just about 46 years ago. And that bitchy Jane, who “gets a nosebleed anywhere above 86th Street”, can’t hold her liquor, can she? Once again, Don’s contempt for the whole scene is just amazing. In his eyes, Roger has been cleanly knocked off his perch as someone Don can aspire to be years down the road. He upset the delicate balance of having that model home life and a hedonistic one on the side. Although I was amused at how gung ho Betty, of all people, was about attending the party in the first place. Too bad she didn’t wear a hat to Derby Day. She did look like a lovely open umbrella…her words, not mine.
