Mad respect Chuck but I feel like you're being a little reductionist. Couldn't I weave a story that these guys would have been hackers in the 70s, exploiting telephone networks for fun and profit?
Rather than do that, I'll just say some things are just what they are, and don't need to be explained by being 'like' something else. Especially when it comes to Madmen, its just too easy to make anything mythological by conflating it with that show.