See this is why bag appeal is complete horse shit IMO..
Yes, those buds weren't much to look at back then, but had you smoked them I bet you'd have an entire different appreciation for them..
Not only that but it wasn't so much how they were grown, but more so how they were handled after grown.. Acapulco gold is said to have gotten its golden color from being dried out in the Mexican sun.. can you imagine the thread on riu where the person was asking about drying their harvest out in the sun??
Next these drugs were smuggled out of the locals they were grown in, mexico, Thailand, Cambodia, Africa, etc etc.. lilcare was taken as the buds were stuffed into tthings like car tires and other lovely things..
Today I'd bet most people aren't even 5 people away from the grower .. back then you were no where near that close to the person who grew the bud.. and today,people take more care of the buds after harvest ..
rather simple actually why bud back then looked the way it did and why today's bud looks the way it does, and I'd say genetics is about the smallest reason of the long list ..
My $.02..