Here is some American history for those of you who are geeks like me and find it interesting:
In the 1950's and 1960's, we were in a space race and life was busy. Oil company offices reflected this. Minimalist furniture, lots of glass. This was because we were too busy to spend time at the office or the house. We were going OUT. Out to eat, out to lunch, out to whatever. Here's an example of an oil company 1960's office:
Notice the shortage of storage space. Also notice that while comfortable, guests couldn't spend much time there as there is nothing to do but sit in the guest chair. That's because we were too busy going OUT. We didn't have time to spend in the office.
. . . . .
Things changed in the late 1970's and the 1980's (exactly when Dallas was filmed, by the way).
Cable TV was starting to be developed, VCRs were becoming available. Rec Rooms were being installed in houses (today, the milennials call them man-caves). Wet bars were being installed in offices. Our entire culture changed, and shifted to staying IN and entertaining at home or the office.
** side note, this is when Dallas parties became popular on Friday nights **
This change to staying IN is reflected in Bobby's office:
Notice the comfortable, mid back guest chairs. Notice the table and lamp to provide the comforts of home. And while we can't see it in this picture, executives often had fireplaces and Televisions set up in their offices. This is because now everybody is now staying IN. Meetings were held into the evenings, so people needed to be comfortable. Think of how many times we see Ewing Oil executives offer drinks from a wet bar right there in the office.
Dallas did a great job of capturing the surroundings of an oil company executive.
"Who is it, Sly? Oh! Come on in, Soapchat members. Get you a bourban and branch?"
