"Mad Men," an AMC show about the sin, swagger and back-stabbing salesmanship of a New York City advertising agency in the 1960s, not only became a smash hit but also launched a cultural phenomenon. Harking back to an era when women were considered subservient to men, these are real ads from the 1960s. This American Airlines ad shows a flight attendant and the line, "Think of her as your mother."

The show "Mad Men" takes viewers into the "real" 1960s, the pre-feminist era, through the antics inside the Madison Avenue ad agency Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, and its competitors. This real ad for Delta Airlines from the 1960s shows another flight attendant waiting on customers with the line, "No floor show. Just a working girl working."

Since "Mad Men" premiered in 2007, the show has consciously formed a plot around ego-driven men working alongside women at a time when traditional family roles went unchallenged. In this actual 1960s ad for Van Heusen ties, a wife graciously serves her husband breakfast in bed with the line, "Show her it's a man's world."

"Mad Men" also includes numerous instances of women's demeaning roles before the feminist movement hit full-force toward the end of the 1960s, with the men of Sterling Cooper Draper Price openly commenting on a female co-workers' body shape, dress and manner. In this real '60s ad for a men's shoe company, a woman lies on the floor. "Keep her where she belongs ..." the slogan reads.

We've heard of the "tiger mom," but this 1970 advertisement for Mr. Leggs, a brand of men's trousers, wouldn't make it off the drawing board today. The ad features a man in business dress, with his foot atop a woman's head. The woman appears as the head of a tiger skin rug. "It's nice to have a girl around the house," the ad reads.