Espresso machines with group heads are ubiquitous (at least in Australia), I don't know of any cafe here that makes espresso without an espresso machine of group head design.
Now I'm curious what cafes and coffee shops commonly used to make espresso before the innovation of the group head. Maybe they didn't serve espresso and only did drip/filter coffee instead?
Lots of commercially machines like slayer have a portafilter but that's where the similarity ends.
Espresso makers for home use were incredibly rare back then and still are today in most households, since they're large, expensive and difficult to use compared to the usual household coffee makers like drip filer coffee, French press, AeroPress, etc
Most people who wanted espresso-like drinks at home used the Mokapot for that since it was much cheaper, smaller and easier to use.