I'm one of those short legged guys, my height is 6'-1", but I have a 32" inseam. My wife is 5'-3½" (I have to put the half inch in, she gets upset about being "shorted") and she has the same inseam length as I do. I actually used on of her bikes back in the mid 80s, while I was bike-less for a few years. The top tube was short, those quill stems offered less choices than we get now, but I could ride during that bleak period.
I can remember the LBS sizing you for a bike back in the early 70s, they had you do the straddle the to tube thing, lift the bike up until it touched your pubis. It should have about 2" clearance, according to the experts, back in the day. Then, they had you place your arm along the top tube with your elbow against the nose of the saddle, and your finger tips against the bars. If it was the same length, you kept that stem. I once asked why they didn't move the saddle along its rails, that drew a stern disapproving glare from the expert.
Actually, there were not a lot of varying length stems in stock, out in the sticks where I still live, we would go through the Schwinn, or Raleigh parts books to find longer, or shorter stems from varying size bikes. I read one of the few books available, that had something about sizing and fitting, in 1979, it was an eye opener for me (Sloans, I ordered a copy from the local bookstore quickly, I still have a copy, just not the same edition.)
I was pleasantly surprised when I came back to cycling to find that shops actually wanted to fit me to the bicycle, and would make changes before I took a bike home. Much different from doing this myself, without really knowing that I was doing a "Fitting" back in my younger days, long, long ago.
End of long, winded post, sorry for slobbering down memory lane.
Bill
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Semper Fi, USMC, 1975-1977
I Can Do All Things Through Him, Who Gives Me Strength. Philippians 4:13