Duck's kids reveal to him that their mother, Pauline, is getting remarried, to a man named Franklin Reeve. There was a poet, novelist, translator, and professor of literature at Weslyan University named Franklin D'Olier Reeve who was showrunner Matt Weiner's primary mentor while Weiner was a college student. In an interview with the Paris Review, Weiner said that after he was unable to get into any of the packed writing classes at Weslyan, he went to talk to Professor Reeve one-on-one and Reeve agreed to tutor him individually, which led to Weiner's three semesters of independent study with Reeve. Franklin Reeve died in 2013, long after he heard himself name-checked on this episode of Mad Men and even longer after his son, the actor and disability rights activist Christopher Reeve, died in 2004. Although Franklin Reeve was married four times, none of his wives were named "Pauline."
Pete picks up the platter of meat that he has just barbecued and says, "Let's see how the Ottomanelli Brothers treated us." Ottomanelli Brothers is a real butcher shop that (as of 2015) has had various locations in the New York area since 1900.
This is series' creator Matthew Weiner's favorite episode of the show.
When Don calls Bobbie at her hotel, she tells him that Jimmy will be spending the next ten days performing at The Beverly Hills Supper Club. The Southgate, Kentucky club really did exist and, in fact, was the scene of one of the worst fire-related tragedies in American history. When it burned on May 28, 1977, 165 guests were killed, and more than 200 were injured.
When encountering "Duck" Phillips' dog Chauncey in the office, Fred Rumsen (played by Joel Murray) says "I hope he can't smell cat on me." This is an inside joke referring to when Joel Murray played doting cat owner Pete Cavanaugh on Dharma & Greg (1997).