They might have been perfectly okay in the Manhattan Project doing varied but unplanned fast-paced research, as a WWII fighter pilot, doing subsea welding for the oil industry, being a scout in any number of military forces, being a professional athlete on the bleeding edge of rock climbing and so on.
I think the rise of ADHD as a common impediment correlates very strongly with a society that has few good career options for people who have these neurological variations.
I'd likely be a chemist or a plumber in those days. Quite frankly, I'd likely be happier today if I was a plumber - however although I really liked chemistry, I'm glad that's not my occupation since a friend of mine has a PhD in chemistry from Stanford and has been unemployed since graduation.
