Most aircraft during that period didn't go full flaps until short final as the final flap setting was often solely to increase drag and could lead to a situation where if deployed too early would put the aircraft behind the power curve and unable to go around. The DC-4, DC-6, and DC-7 all reference not deploying final flap until 400 feet AGL. Similar for the Convairliners (CV-240/340/440) with a 500' AGL deployment altitude. The L.188 and CL-44 both reference not deploying final flap until on "short final" (the CL-44 saying 1 mile and the L.188 saying 1000 feeet AGL). The 707 manual from Matt Zagoren makes reference to not deploying full flaps until over the Middle Marker (about 1/2 mile final).
Also, remember you're flying an older airplane. If ATC tells you to do something you can't, tell them "unable". It's that simple. ATC has to accomodate you, not the other way around. When I worked for Air Tahoma with the CV-580s, one of the things our crews had to constantly remind ATC of was that with those aircraft, even at flight idle, you either descended or slowed down, not both. Asking them to hold their speed up on final was also not a good idea because of the lack of speed brakes. DC-8 pilots had this same problem as well since the DC-8 is only equipped with Ground Spoilers. Yeah, they could drop the gear at up to 320 KIAS, but for passenger comfort, that was for pilot mistakes only.
Also, as FSAirlines matures and is improved, your high speed landings will start to effect the status of the airplanes you fly. There have been plans in place to start recording more information about landings and factor them into the damage they do to the airplane's status. The faster you land and the harder you hit, the more it hurts the plane, just like in real life.
So, while it may be "faster" do it the wrong way, it's not safer and it's not cheaper. The manufacturers spend thousands of hours developing the manuals and approved speed charts. Any time you go outside those approved charts, you've become a test pilot, and by definition, you've just done something illegal as you're not allowed to conduct test flights while carrying revenue passengers and/or cargo.