It could be any suburban town. Maybe Weiner is from there.

I think Weiner is from Baltimore.

Background only. You're not going to see Leave It to Beaver-ville. Matt needed a bedroom community (like the Petrie's New Rochelle) for the suburban life as a contrast to Manhattan and Don's business world, that's all.

The choice of Ossining is difficult to understand. Even in 1960, a top gun at a major Madison Avenue agency would most likely have lived in Greenwich, Montclair, Bedford, the East Side, Darien, Far Hills, the North Shore, Chappequa, Bronxville -- somewhere like that. Particularly if his wife was a status-conscious Bryn Mawr girl who grew up on the Main Line.

I found the choice difficult to understand too, at first. Now I lived in the area for many years. Some of it is very nice, the part by the prison, not so nice. Lot's of upscale though and a great deal of people commute into the city from there. Did that myself for many years.

I found it strange because it's not a place most people think of when they think of Westchester. I figured they'd pick Scarsdale or as fullprofessor mentioned, Chappaqua or Bronxville. If people have even heard of Ossining, it's usually because of Sing Sing, "Up The River", the chair, etc. Now I'm thinking that may be the exact reason they used it; it's nice but has sort of a perceived macabre underbelly that lends itself to the psychological torment the characters go through.

Perhaps one of the writers is from there?

@Auburn Annie: 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 they are on two different lines.

MadMen seems to try harder for accuracy!