An up-close view of the place and time

I’ve BEEN an avid fan of “Mad Men” since Day One. Thanks for your wonderfully written story about the show [“ ‘Mad Men,’ Strong Women” by Lynn Smith, July 20].

However, there is one detail in the show that doesn’t ring true for me: Betty’s glass-of-wine companion. I grew up in New Canaan, Conn., in the ‘50s and ‘60s -- the end of the line for one of the commuter trains to New York City. The alcohol flowed freely in every household I knew in Westchester and Fairfield counties, but I never once saw a bottle of wine. It was Scotch, bourbon, rye, gin and occasionally vodka; the mothers who drank alone were sipping the hard stuff.

Amy Franzen

Los Angeles