my .02 on the tri-flow vs sewing machine oil....
When the Victorian era machines I own were new they recommended to "ONLY use sperm oil on this machine". When petroleum oil began to be used, I am sure the attitude was the same as we now see with tri-flow replacing petroleum..
Folks get used to what they have experience with, and "new fangled" stuff is just not necessary when the old stuff has worked fine for years.
Or to use a music analogy.. there have always been only three types of music. The old stuff your folks listen to, your music, and that crap your kids listen to... every age, same story...