No one defined style and elegance in the early 1960s more than President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. As many have said, they were the closest America has ever had to royalty. Women looked to the young and beautiful First Lady for their fashion cues: from the hairstyles on top of their heads to the shoes they wore on their feet. Mrs. Kennedy’s Prince Charming, the president, was young, handsome, witty, and debonair. Even those who were ardent Nixon supporters, and that included nearly everyone at Sterling Cooper, grew infatuated with the First Family and aspired to their suave and easy elegance.
Mad Men captures the public’s infatuation with the Kennedys with great authenticity. On Valentine’s Day 1962, Don and Betty Draper meet for a romantic evening at the Savoy-Plaza Hotel, looking every bit as glamorous as the First Couple.
After champagne, Betty asks Don, “Would you like another one here? What are we doing?”
“How does room service sound?” replies Don, who has taken a room for the evening.
Betty feigns surprise, but once in the room she tells Don, “I came prepared,” and emerges from the bathroom in black lingerie, garters, and stockings. As sexy as she looks, however, Don has a rare moment of inadequacy.
“It’s okay, we’ve got all night,” Betty assures him and suggests they have something to eat. Don phones room service and orders vichyssoise and BLTs on white toast, but Betty takes the phone as the television comes on and we see Jackie Kennedy giving a television reporter a guided tour of the White House.
“Leave that,” says Betty to Don, and asks room service to send something considerably more sophisticated, just as Jackie might have: half an avocado stuffed with crabmeat, a rare petit filet, and two place settings.
As the scene shifts we see that Salvatore Romano, Sterling Cooper’s artistic director, and his wife Kitty are watching the same program, as are Joan Holloway and her future husband, Dr. Greg Harris (Greg is trying to make out with Joan, but her eyes are riveted on the television even as he lays her down on the couch). They were hardly alone; fifty-six million Americans watched Mrs. Kennedy’s tour of the newly renovated White House as it aired on all three major television networks.
The public’s sense of intimacy with the Kennedys is evoked the next day as Betty and her friend Francine Hanson chat while Betty folds laundry in her kitchen. Francine has been looking for a particular armoire, but has only been able to find “copies.”
“Jackie has a real one you know,” she says to Betty, then comments on the televised White House tour. “She seemed nervous. Even when she saw Jack at the end. It’s like they were playing house.”
From a distance at least, people were on a first-name basis with the president and First Lady.
In the summer of 1961, several months before her televised tour of the White House, Mrs. Kennedy had planned a state dinner in honor of Pakistan’s president, Ayub Kahn, and his wife, and chose to hold it at Mt. Vernon, George Washington’s home. Guests arrived in four flower-bedecked boats. Mint juleps (see Jane Sterling’s Mint Julep) were served on the piazza followed by a dinner prepared by White House chef René Verdon. The menu featured Poulet Chasseur as the main course accompanied by a side of Couronne de Riz Clamart. The desserts were Framboises à La Crème Chantilly and Petits Fours Sec.
Before the main course came an appetizer Betty would have died for, and may have been thinking about when she ordered room service at the Savoy on Valentine’s Day: Avocado and Crabmeat Mimosa. (In French cooking, the word mimosa indicates egg garnish.)
“The fruit known as the avocado is as adaptable as gelatin,” wrote New York Times food critic Craig Claiborne in July 1963. “It complements crab meat and other sea food and has a natural affinity for tomato and onion, oil and vinegar.”
This refreshing appetizer is adapted from In the Kennedy Style: Magical Evenings in the Kennedy White House by Letitia Baldrige, Mrs. Kennedy’s White House social secretary, with menus and recipes by White House chef René Verdon (1998).
ADAPTED FROM IN THE KENNEDY STYLE: MAGICAL EVENINGS IN THE KENNEDY WHITE HOUSE BY LETITIA BALDRIGE; MENUS AND RECIPES BY WHITE HOUSE CHEF RENÉ VERDON. (DOUBLEDAY, 1998)
2 ripe avocados
1 scallion, minced
2 teaspoons lemon juice, divided
1⁄4 teaspoon salt, plus additional to taste
Dash of hot pepper sauce
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons chili sauce
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
1⁄2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Ground white pepper
8 ounces cooked fresh crabmeat
2 cups watercress
2 hard-cooked egg yolks
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
YIELD: 6 SERVINGS
THE GLAMOROUS FIRST COUPLE, PRESIDENT AND MRS. KENNEDY