If you take a look at the owner's manual for Schwinn Paramounts from around 1965 to 1980, the bars are as high as the top of the saddle. Every "major" author on bike fit in that era suggested starting with the bars at the height of the saddle, and then making slight adjustments.

After Greg LeMond won the Tour de France on the last day, riding in a low aero position, that became the "fad" position for folks who are riding to school, to their jobs, to Krogers and to Starbucks. So, forty year old guys on a Sunday morning tour are now riding in a "time trial" postion. And, bike designs have changed, making it VERY difficult with most 2006 model road bikes to set the bars at the same height as the saddle.

As a result, millions of road bikes are hanging, unridden, from the ceilings of American garages. The owners complain "I can't ride a road bike...my neck hurts, my hands hurt, my back hurts, my crotch hurts"...and, all those problems would have gone away if the owner had just raised his bars two or three inches.