A lot of people did, but it was a very different type of drinking from what a lot of modern alcoholism is today. I've done a lot of reading about this and talked to quite a few doctors, it's actually what's causing so much alcohol-related deaths in people in their 20s and 30s now, which up until like 30 years ago doctors thought was basically impossible.
Back then you could have a couple drinks at lunch, a couple more in the afternoon, maybe a couple at the bar with buddies after work, then go home and have a few more. Maybe 10 drinks a day, which is still a lot but you can probably keep that up for a few decades. The thing is that it was social and more importantly active. You still had to be able to function and keep up appearances, and when you got home you still had to take care of the kids and interact with your wife. There was meaning in life and a constant buzz just made it better.
Nowadays a whole bunch of new factors including the advent of the internet, the wide availability of insanely cheap hard liquor, the general decay of mental health in the younger generations, and the general fucked up state of the West. The modern alcoholic may still have a job, may still go to the bar, but ultimately ends up isolating and spiraling into suicidal drinking. Basically instead of going out with buddies to play golf and have some beers he goes to work, goes straight home, then sits alone and watches tv/plays videogames/posts on 4chan while chugging alcohol until he can crawl into bed to fall asleep then wake up the next day and do it all over again. No one to piss off and make him realize he's so drunk he can't walk, just the glow of the screen and cheap booze.
