Yes our industrious forefathers of the 17th and 18th centuries who’s woodwork established a trade and our current respect were shorter than we are today. In fact they were shorter than many previous centuries due to climate, health and economic conditions. Men born from 1650 to 1750 had a life expectancy of 35 years!
Men in England have regained their height from the medieval period and are now exceeding it.
Clearly the height of a workbench must be related to the height of the user. I have often seen 32” referred to as a ‘traditional height’ and that may well be right but those days are gone! I think the term ‘historical height’ would release people from traditional thinking.
Some people excuse this low height in today’s world with the explanation that it enables you to ‘press down’ when planning. Clearly our forefathers were not ‘pressing down’.
Lie Nielson offer heights of 32” to 38”; bravo!
So pick YOUR height and make your bench fancy if you wish because you will almost certainly get to use it past 35 years of age!