I dont remember ever seeing commercial cider but the home made stuff was common when I was a kid back in the 50s.
The small town I lived in had Halloween parties, held on our biggest parking lot. Two large wooden barrels were set up, one of apple juice for the kids and one of hard cider for adults. Once the cider took affect no one seemed to notice that kids would draw from the cider barrel.
The farm I worked on in upstate NY, the guy every year got 4 or 5 barrels from wherever he got it. Man, that was years ago...
Super dry, but also super flat. I like to get it carbonated like a champagne.