Spokes used to break a lot more often than they do nowadays. The stainless steel they were made out of wasn't as pure as it is now.

One benefit to a high flange is that you can change a spoke on the right rear side without removing the cog(s). Having all the flanges the same size (tall) meant that you only had to buy one size spare spoke.

Touring bikes also often had high flange hubs for the same reason, although with a dished rear wheel you had to carry two sizes of spoke.

Today, spokes hardly ever break, even on low-spoke-count wheels. Modern high flange hubs are still around because we all think they look cool.