As a resident of Ossining I applaud the show's diligence in portraying our town with historical accuracy. I know this is partly influenced by Norm MacDonald of the Ossining Historical Society. However, Betty does err is reciting the Draper telephone number as "Wilson 4..." when the prefix is actually Wilson 1 (941-xxxx). Silly minor point on my part, but thought I'd air it out.

RedVestEd -
I suspect the writers have an Ossining phone book from the era. By using "Wilson 4" there's no chance of it being a real person's phone number. Believe it or not, people do dial phone numbers that they hear on TV. Which is why most TV series use a 555- exchange.

Ritt1 -
Excellent point, well done!

Speaking of Ossining, we've updated the Mad Men map for Westchester, now featuring new landmarks in Ossining, Tarrytown, Larchmont and New Rochelle:

http://lohud.com/madmen

Redvest--is Ossining Putnam county or is it still Westchester?

I do know, am I wrong, that whole area does indeed have "an interesting mix" of upscale yuppies, some more working class, almost redneck, "townie" types (like that young couple), and some outright poor folks.

I don't know why JFK's assassination would push Don to a breaking point. Betty is aware of Don's affair with Bobbie and I would suspect by now she knows it's not his first or his last. The only person Betty has had sex with is the anonymous guy in the bar. Nothing has happened with Henry. What kind of violence do you think Don is going to commit?

@BettyCrocker Ossining is well within westchester, about 20 miles to Putnam county, where I live. I did live in Ossining in 1980, and worked in Tarrytown from 1980-1993. A good chunk of Ossining and Tarrytown are pretty rough economic area, mespecially near the railroad tracks, like in many towns.
Putnam county has some rednecks like me, but not nearly enough. Even the next county up, Dutchess is full of ex NYers and commuters. You have to go to Columbia county to really be out in the country these days, on this side of the Hudson.

I lived in Briarcliff as a child in '63 next to Holly Hill and it was, and still is a wealthy area, as is Scarborough. Ossining which is next door was a more mixed place. The Town area where Brookside school is located on Pinesbridge Rd. and Maryknoll across the street are the better areas. The Village of Ossining is the area down by the river and train station and had a substantial Black population. In '63, Ossining and Tareytown to the south were actually worse looking than they are today because by the mid 60's they began Urban Renewal which cleared away the delapidated and slum type buildings.They also widened Rt9 which runs through Ossining. Bullet Park is just a fictional name from a novel by Cheever who lived on Cedar Ln.

Chris: I looked at the map but I think a few changes have to be made for 1963. There was a Carvel in Elmsford so if they went to Tareytown they would just get on 287 get off at Elmsford and take Rt 9A back home getting off at Pleasantville Rd and Chilmark is right there. Back then there was also an drive in outdoor movie there and in Croton next door to Ossining.
Grampa Gene died at the A&P (called Food Emporium today) on Pleasantville Rd. The houses in the Chilmark area are right behind it. It's not the supermarket on N State because that's part of Briarcliff an it was the Ossining police who came to the house.
The reservoir is really just a tiny one on Pleasantville & Orchard Rd down the hill from Don's house. If I had to guess I'd say that Don lived on Orchard, Apple, Farm or Macy Rd.

@JeanM agree with you on A&P locale.

imamarilyn i am just speculating. i do think both don and betty will have affairs with henry and miss farrell and the chase has already begun for each of them! Betty has already taken a rain check on the reservoir hike and don has another opportunity to meet the teacher running in the morning!

I think the stress and social anxiety of the assassination might be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Season 3 Don reminds me of a patched up broken vase in a Tom and Jerry cartoon. Once that tiny chunk cracks off, watch out for the flood.

As far as the violence, not exactly sure what kind, murder might be far fetched, but don was down right nasty to betty when roger made a pass at her! Betty with Henry would get ungly - remember him sucker punching jimmy barrett or his "oysters revenge" lunch with roger. I envisioned a possible near death beat down on henry at the reservoir. Of course, miss farell coud get herself knocked up and don could go monte clifft on us! That would really crash amc's servers - lol

Ritt1 - Your telephone theory while sound doesn't work in this case, the WIlson4 prefix (944-xxxx) is currenlty in use in Ossining!

@JeanM: Thanks for your great note! Following up:

•There is/was a Carvel in Elmsford, but not in 1963, according to the Carvel spokeswoman with whom I spoke.

•Very good point about the A&P/Food Emporium you mentioned. If that info checks out, we'll update the map accordingly next week.

•The Ossining Reservoir on The Journal News' map is exactly where you mentioned — on the corner of Orchard and Pleasantville roads.

•After speaking with the Ossining Historical Society president Norm MacDonald, The Journal News placed the fictional Draper house on Farm Road for its Chilmark placement and upper/middle-class vibe — so great minds think alike.

Love the feedback, Mad Men fans! Got any more Westchester suggestions? Send them to me at cserico (at) lohud (dot) com.

RedVest: But the Wilson 4 didn't exist in 1963. Only 941 and then 762 was used and shared by Ossining, Briarcliff and Scarborough. 944 must be fairly new due to an increase in population and internet and fax numbers.

Chris: I never really thought of that as being a reservoir and didn't really pay much attention to it, it looks like a little pond. The reservoirs are Croton and Kensico. NYC owns a lot of property upstate for their water supply and has a lot of reservoirs and aquaducts (the old one went right through the village of Ossining) I guess that the towns along the way tap into it and pay NYC for water. It is the best water in the US so bottled water is a waste of money.
The Carvel was there in Elmsford in 1963 and was right across from the drive in movie.

@JeanM: Here's the official response I got from my Carvel spokeswoman: "Our records show that location opening in 1973." Frustrating, because you're not the only person who's told me it was there in '63.

Tom Carvel had his first place in Hartsdale back in the 30's I believe. He then expanded but they were probably small places. Perhaps they rebuilt the one in Elmsford in 1973 on the same site and knocked down the old one.

@JeanM - "This past weekend's chapter had Betty meeting with an adviser to the governor about the 'Pleasantville Road Reservoir' and the plans to erect a 3 million gallon water tower to replace it. They did. I blogged about the reservoir here. I grew up on Osage Drive West, a few hundred yards from the reservoir...the way Mad Men so accurately portrays how it was in Ossining at that time is remarkable. The local paper has caught on, and it could reach Soprano's/North Jersey proportions if this keeps up."

http://activerain.com/blogsview/1260685/the-mad-men-connection-to-ossining-ny

I lived in Croton for many years and grew up near Hartsdale; Carvel's first store most certainly was in Hartsdale, on Central Avenue, down from the "four corners". It was on the spot where his truck broke down in the 30s. He bought the land and built a store there. The second store was in Ardsley where he lived for many years. The Hartsdale store was razed recently to make way for a condo or other nonsense. The Carvel in Elmsford was indeed near the drive-in, on 9A, down the street from where "Masters" Dept store used to be. I think it's across from "Sam's Club". Not sure if it was around in 1963 but there seems to be a lot of discussion regarding that! If I'm not mistaken there is a Carvel in the Chilmark shopping center where the A & P (Food Emporium) that Grandpa Gene died in is located; that probably would not have been there in the 1960s.

All the Ossining phone exchanges exist but I don't think there was 944 back then. I'm surprised they used anything but 555; someone has that number some place in some state and will probably get calls from some idiot playing tricks.

Did anyone notice in the episode where Don is riding the "New York Central" (now Metro North) to Grand Central the conductor calls out "Scarborough, Briarcliff Manor"? It's the episode where the teacher he is having the affair with comes on the train to talk with him. Great stuff; rode that line for many years.

I know the house they use for the Drapers is in Pasadena:

http://www.iamnotastalker.com/2009/06/22/don-drapers-house-from-mad-men/

I'm assuming the scenes that are supposed to be in and around Ossining are probably there too. The shots are too close for me to recognize anything.

A quick addition: Having grown up in Westchester we always used to love "The Dick Van Dyke Show" because it took place in New Rochelle and we'd listen to see if they made any mistakes. I remember one episode in which next door neighbor Jerry was talking about riding the train to New York City and getting "delayed at Scarsdale". Funny since Scarsdale and New Rochelle are on two different lines.

MadMen seems to try harder for accuracy!

Here's a great article I find from Westchester Magazine:

http://www.westchestermagazine.com/Westchester-Magazine/November-2009/Live-Like-a-Mad-Man/

It explains why Matt Weiner chose Ossining as the locale for the show.

Well, I'm new to Mad Men - but very familiar with Ossining in the 1960's - having lived there from 1957 though high school graduation in 1968. In subsequent years, I continued to spend time there when returning home during college/law school breaks, etc. My folks continued to live there though the late 70's. I haven’t been back since about 2001 though.

Some facts re Ossining in the 1960's...

As previously noted, all the phones were Wi(lson) 1 - there was no Wi(lson) 4.

If the Drapers did live in Chilmark, their kids would probably have gone to Roosevelt School – they definitely would not have gone to Brookside (which is where I went). Elementary school assignments were based entirely on geography and Chilmark was well-outside of Brookside's geographic area.

If the Drapers lived in Chilmark, they also would probably have played tennis & gone swimming at the Chilmark Country Club (now a municipal park, with the pool filled in).

There was no A&P in Ossining in the early 60's. The only A&P in the area was the one in Briarcliff at the triangle where Rte 100 (“N. State Rd.”) veered off from Rte 9A. Throughout the 60's (at least until 1968/69 or so), the supermarket that was in the Chilmark Shopping Center on Pleasantville Rd. was a Daitch Shopwell (a now-defunct chain) – not an A&P.

As joebeans noted, there was indeed a Carvel in Elmsford, just south of what was the Masters discount store on Rte 9A. It most definitely was there in 1963. My dad worked in Elmsford back then and we stopped at that Carvel many times.

On the NY Central, the conductors never would call out Scarborough Station as “Scarborough / Briarcliff”, but always simply as, ”Scarborough Station stop”.

Picayune issues to be sure, but hey...

Additionally, I don't know if there is a Carvel in the Chilmark Shopping Center now (I would rather doubt it) , but there most definitely was not one there in 1963...

@ Gordon,

Carvel is definitely there now:

http://www.ubproperties.com/property.php?id=12

Look at the photo, which you can enlarge. There is a strip of stores to the left starting with Radio Shack. Look straight ahead; that's Carvel with the SUV in front of it. It's also listed on the map. I went in many times when I lived in the area. Definitely agree that it was not there in 1963.

Shopwell was also a fixture of my youth; A & P bought them and changed them to "Food Emporium" which is a more upscale chain version of A & P. That's what is there now.

Enjoyed your additional info! Who knows if any of the characters will even by living in Ossining next season, given the season 3 finale.

Thanks for posting the link to the plot plan/photo! Brings back lots of memories. Looks like the supermarket has been repositioned/reconfigured since the 1960's. The Daitch Shopwell was located somewhat to the left of where the Food Emporium now appears to stand - basically in the area that is now shown as parking between the "B" spaces and the Food Emporium - though it was set back with its front about even with the front of B5-B8. Some combination of C4/C5 used to be "Books 'n' Things" - where I spent more time in the 60s than any other store in Ossining. In the Spring of 1968 the B2 or B3 space was the local headquarters for the Gene McCarthy for President campaign... Spent a lot of time there that Spring... (The Carvel probably wasn't there yet in '68 or else I would likely remember eating Carvel while working on the campaign...) Thanks again for posting the link!

I grew up in Scarborough and was in third grade in 1963. Agree on the phones, Wilson 1 and Rogers 9 and, later, another Rogers number were the phone numbers, most of Briarcliff was Wilson 1. Agree that conductors never said Briarcliff Manor, only Scarborough. I do recall a Carvel on Route 9 just before what was Arcadian Gardens where Burger King is, but could be wrong. The reservoir was just below Chilmark and the tower was built at that time and it did lower the water level. It is just a pond, however, but the tower was a shock at the time. Also the eclipse was on Saturday and teachers did not work with kids on Saturday.

Glad to share the info and I really enjoy coming back here to read the great comments!

I think they ought to get a Peter Falk reference next season. Didn't his folks also own the five and ten?

In season 2 when Duck is invited to dinner at Don and Betty's house (the episode when she serve the Heiniken beer), Don asks him if he took the Saw Mill Parkway--the Saw Mill Parkway does not go to Ossining, he would have taken the Taconic or 9A but unlikely he would take the Saw Mill.

Why would they assign a new character? Very strange stuff I'm hearing these days while sitting on my drafting chair and having to read it.

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