Honestly sometimes those old details are just traps. They used solid wood that moves a ton, so copying their joinery with modern plywood makes no sense. The whole way we live and store stuff is different now, so their layouts are often useless for today's kitchens.
Yeah, I was reading this blog by a restoration carpenter who said the real takeaway isn't the joints. It's the little stuff, like how they planned for specific items. Those narrow vertical dividers next to the stove weren't random, they were for storing baking sheets and platters flat. Makes you wonder why we just have giant empty cabinets now, right?