I do think that the dishonest man is Dick's father (with what evidence? Dunno, gotta rewatch),

Because the mom gave the man a nickel and the dad took it and said "you'll get it after you do some work" Next day, after the drifter did the work, the dad kept the nickel.

I wonder if it was supposed to be particularly telling that the dishonest man symbol was carved into the post instead of just written with chalk?

I just assumed that the symbols are always carved - otherwise one rainfall would wash them away.

He gave the boy the chalk and said that it was their method of communication.

Because the mom gave the man a nickel and the dad took it and said "you'll get it after you do some work" Next day, after the drifter did the work, the dad kept the nickel.

Sorry -- I was unclear! I caught the evidence for his being dishonest -- I only meant that I couldn't quote any proof for the man being Dick's father.

(on rewatch: in the falling-down-the-stairs flashback in "Babylon", when post-partum HolyRoller!Stepmom (the same one as in this episode) refers to baby Adam as BowlHaircut!Dick's brother and he says "he ain't my brother", Uncle Mack says "of course he is - he's got the same father". We don't actually see the Dishonest Man in that scene, but Baby Daddy = Partner of HolyRoller!Stepmom, so I gathered that Baby Daddy = Dick's father.)

So, it's mere coincidence that the Dishonest Man so resembles Don/Dick as an adult?

This is the sorta show I shoulda kept the older episodes for later comparisons, huh?

I think Dishonest Man is Dick/Don's dad. I can't imagine him letting Dick be there for any other reason. Nasty man.

And did everyone notice that the hobo was Father Phil from The Sopranos?

I think Dishonest Man is Dick/Don's dad.

Yes.

And did everyone notice that the hobo was Father Phil from The Sopranos?

No. Another rewatch (darnit!)

Maybe sometime inbetween the Hobo thing and the birth of Adam - Dishonest Man died so that even though Adam and Dick/Don are half-siblings, Adam wasn't raised by his father.

Mad Man historical note:

I was doing some wikipedia research on all the writers/artists who were working in Manhattan after WWII from the late forties through early sixties. I'm fascinated with the image of such a tight concentration of talent that didn't flourish until later.

So this list includes novelists William Gaddis (PR guy), Joseph Heller (advertising copywriter), Edward Gorey (book design), Diane Arbus (fashion photography), Stanley Kubrick (photographer for Time), Andy Warhol (fashion and catalog illustration) and many others. Anyway, following the link from Heller I came across this bit about suspense novelist Mary Higgins Clark:

Soon after (her brother) Joseph died, Clark graduated from high school and chose to attend Wood Secretarial School on a partial scholarship. After completing her coursework the following year, she accepted a job as the secretary to the head of the creative department in the internal advertising division at Remington-Rand. She soon enrolled in evening classes to learn more about advertising and promotion. Her growing skills, as well as her natural beauty, were noticed by her boss and others in the company, and her job was expanded to include writing catalog copy (alongside future novelist Joseph Heller) and to model for the company brochures with a then-unknown Grace Kelly.

Cool, huh? Sort of half Peggy and half Joan. Clark later went on to snag the glamour job of the era, Pan Am Stewerdess, before she got married.

According to one memoir I read, guys like Heller and Gaddis were allowed to work on their novels in the morning and do their regular jobs in the afternoon.