I only look back about 12 years. After the GFC. That's plenty of data and I suspect market trades differently today vs. further in the past.
Well, actually no. I actually love researching this sort of thing. Woolworth (symbol Z) became Vetanor then Foot Locker (still listed). Westinghouse Electric became CBS (taken over by Viacom in 2005). I don't think it ever had the symbol "W". The symbol W was used by Westvaco until it took over MeadWest and changed its symbol to MWV in 2002. W has been used recently by Wayfair since 2015.
I’d have to say that’s a good way to look at it. I don’t think markers have been the same especially on execution since the days of digital. Depending on your frequency HFT and the decimal era have changed markets.
The behavior of failed stocks hasn't changed much though (well perhaps a bit more accelerated) but only including the GFC without the tech wreck exacerbates your survivorship bias.