I think OP is just looking for a general idea of antisemitism in the US during the 50s and 60s.

First off, keep in mind that the first episode of Mad Men is set in the spring of 1960, and the show ends in the fall of 1970, which is obviously a large and important span of American history. Plus, the views of individuals in the show are not necessarily meant to represent widespread opinion; often times characters and their dialogue are there for color/style/plot, not necessarily historical commentary. Now to your question...

Historian Leonard Dinnerstein argues in his book, Antisemitism in America (1994), that mainstream anti-Semitism has been built on centuries of hostility from Christians toward Jews. He notes that throughout modern history, Jews have often served as targets during periods of heightened economic and social anxiety (such as the Great Depression, WW2). According to Dinnerstein, the creation of the state of Israel following WW2 led many Jews to become more politically outspoken in public life, particularly in supporting the Civil Rights movement in the U.S. Following Brown v Board of Education (1954), Dinnerstein notes that a number of racist organizations began to associate Jews with integration. While this somewhat lessened anti-Semitism among liberals (leading to the easing of many public restrictions against Jews in the late-1950s), its effects among conservatives and Southerners were opposite, even among African Americans (whom Dinnerstein notes were overwhelmingly Christian).

Back to Mad Men…I can’t say that Dinnerstein’s thesis explains the occasional anti-Semitic comments and attitudes that are peppered throughout the show. However, given the fact that the Civil Rights movement is a major theme throughout Mad Men, and the fact that it’s something that several of the characters struggle with from the perspective of corporate life, Dinnerstein’s argument may be relevant.

[edit: a word]

In order to get a better idea of what exactly you're referring to could you give specific examples from the show?

Unfortunately, it's difficult to empirically answer your question but I may be able to point you in the right direction. First, you should check out the book Hollywood and Anti-Semitism: A Cultural History up to World War Two by Steven Carr. Here is a review in the London Review of Books by film critic J. Hoberman.

Second, there actually are two films that come to mind, released five months apart in 1947, that specifically deal with antisemitism. These are Crossfire and Gentleman's Agreement, the first two films to deal with the topic in America. One could argue that they were produced as a direct reaction to the Holocaust and WWII--and undoubtedly there is some truth to that--but what's interesting about the films is that they are set entirely in America and, if I remember correctly, never even bring up the Holocaust.

Were these films then a social commentary on the specific situation in U.S. or were they trying to make a broader social comment about bigotry and prejudice in general? Perhaps both. According to the Crossfire Featurette Hate is Like a Gun, "post-war disenchantment led to a great deal of films with a social consciousness. In fact, nearly a third of the films that came out of Hollywood in 1947 dealt with social intolerance."

In the same featurette Edward Dmytryk, the director of Crossfire said that RKO and the filmmakers were worried that people may not have wanted to see a film about antisemitism, so they "wrapped it in a compelling murder-suspense story". Again a question: Does this mean antisemitism was a problem in America, or that social commentary films might not appeal to a large audience? And again, barring some hard evidence, one might have to assume both--though Dmytryk's comments seem to suggest the latter.

Lastly, and I apologize for not being able to source this at the moment, but Kirk Douglas, who was actually born Issur Danielovitch to Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire, has said he experienced quite a bit of antisemitism in Hollywood and would never stand for it. He evidently once seduced a woman who had made a antisemitic remark and at the moment of climax he yelled, "I'm a Jew! You're being fucked by a Jew!"

I hope this comment is up to snuff on this sub. I know we need to be very strict with providing accurate information and sourcing, but I think a question such as this, which I believe may never get an adequate answer, will at the very least benefit from the above. Thanks, Mods! You rock!

edit: spelling, grammar, clarity.

Hello everyone,

In this thread, there have been a large number of incorrect, speculative, or otherwise disallowed comments, and as such, they were removed by the mod-team. There has also been a fair amount of plain old-fashioned anti-Semitism, which will earn you an immediate ban.

Please, before you attempt to answer the question, keep in mind our rules concerning in-depth and comprehensive responses. Answers that do not meet the standards we ask for will be removed.

Follow-up question: present-day americans seem to have no distinction between people following Judaism as a religion and people of Hebrew origin by ethnicity (which is understandable, given how closely these groups overlap in US). Was this lack of distinction in place for a long time?

First I'd go way back and recommend Constantine's Sword by James Carroll. He's a former Catholic priest, so a lot of it covers the Catholic churches view of Jews, but there are sections on the Protestants as well.

The general takeaway is that pretty much the prejudice of anti-Semitism is a Christian anti-Semitism, historically sprinkled throughout the religion. The blood libel is the most incendiary, but there was also the black plague and money lending, that Jews were scapegoated for that became long held stereotypes in many areas of Europe, where a majority of the people where Christian.

Now to America, from 1890 - 1920, many ethnic whites came, a lot of Catholics too, first from Scandinavia, Ireland and the German states, but then later, Italy, southern Europe and the Russian Empire, where a lot of Ashkenazi Jews came from.

The ethnic whites faced discrimination and, so as a result, had to specialize in certain industries.

For example, Malcolm Gladwell (a writer, not a historian) quotes from Jerome Karabel's book, The Chosen about the rising enrollment of Jewish students at Harvard (and also other Ivies) after the peak of Ellis Island immigration in the 1920s:

The administration and alumni were up in arms. Jews were thought to be sickly and grasping, grade-grubbing and insular. They displaced the sons of wealthy Wasp alumni, which did not bode well for fund-raising. A. Lawrence Lowell, Harvard’s president in the nineteen-twenties, stated flatly that too many Jews would destroy the school: “The summer hotel that is ruined by admitting Jews meets its fate . . . because they drive away the Gentiles, and then after the Gentiles have left, they leave also.”

Now, about New York City and the timeline of OP's question, look at Gladwell's chapter 5 in his book, Outliers. The discrimination against Jews made many highly skilled workers, develop niche practices. The hard work in the Garment District is noted, but lawyers are emphasized. Here is a summary of the chapter -

As the members of this group were trying to break into the field of law, "white-shoe" firms were only interested in hiring clean-cut, "Nordic" individuals who went to the right schools and had the right social backgrounds. This forced Jewish lawyers to open their own firms, where they often had to take cases cast off by the white-shoe firms. These included hostile corporate takeover deals, which the Jewish lawyers became very good at. When the aversion to these kinds of lawsuits faded and they began to prove lucrative, the Jewish lawyers were in an envious position.

While many groups of ethnic whites would eventually assimilate, the Jews, having a distinct religion did not do so as rapidly. As far as I can find, the Holocaust was only first dealt with on American TV eight years after the end of WWII. And it wasn't really until the Eichmann trial, that many Americans started talking about it openly.

Back to Mad Men, Sal is an Italian and deals with jokes centered on his identity (that don't have to do with his sexuality).

And then look at my favorite character of the show, who apparently hides her Jewish identity, Don's love interest, Dr. Faye Miller.