>>1649964They looked like that because they had to. No ground servicing or skyways so the body needs to be kept as low as possible, but the props need a lot of clearance so the engines are mounted as high up as possible. Straight wings because the speeds are so low. Large cabins because navigation is done visually.
If you designed a modern aircraft with the same requirements you'd get a very similar design. The same constraints are the reason the 737 MAX fiasco is happening.
