Thanks for calling me an old timer. 😉
You are right about solder ring fittings being the norm in the past. Not sure why that was, but rarely see end feed on work done 50 years ago and I was taught to use Yorkshire fittings.
End feed was thought of by many as inferior then.
I suppose you could think of Yorkshire fittings as the faster method of soldering
😀 end feed wasnt around back then as much well that’s what I was told