http://bestbatterytips.com/tags/who-makes-interstate-batteries/
It seems to me that the quality of batteries has improved. Back in the 1950s, three years was probably a reasonable life expectancy. I do remember back in the late 1960s, Montgomery Ward offered a lifetime battery that was guaranteed forever as long as it was in the car for which it was originally insgtalled and it only applied to the original purchaser. I guess that MW figured out that a person would more than likely trade the car before they had to replace the battery.