Mystery Date Memories

A brief clip last week on Mad Men brought back a long lost memory that may have had more influence on my love life than I could have imagined. On the show, Sally is watching TV (black and white, but interestingly remote-controlled) when a commercial comes on for the Milton-Bradley game MYSTERY DATE.

Ten-year old girls dreamily played the game taking turns opening the door for their mystery date. Would he be a dream or a dud? The boys in the game were at least 18, if not older, setting us up at an early age for the unattainable or just plain creepy. Not sure if my memory serves me properly on all the guys but I think they were: a skier, beach boyfriend, bowler, doctor, the biggest prize of all: the white dinner jacket clad model. Then there were the duds: a geek named Poindexter and a painter.

Granted, the savvy young player could rig the door handle to insure success. But one character trait I still uphold is honesty, so it was hard for me to cheat, especially at that tender young age. It wasn't the winning or losing that struck me all these years later, it was the horror of liking one of the duds when your girlfriends (and 60's society) clearly did not approve! Did this message follow me into my later dating and non-dating years? Deep-down, I am still waiting for the white dinner jacket clad dream to show up at my door. With my luck, he is now in his seventies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHsQpTbQ9Uo