They weren’t rough and scratchy like those Youtube links you posted.
78s sounded OK until about the 20th time they were played. The records were a hard material that lasted fairly well.
My Father, who was a professional musician in his youth, had a huge collection of big band and jazz, and they sounded clear, not scratchy.
He used to just use a needle two or three times, and then toss it. (this was late ‘40s - early ‘50s)
My guess is that not many people changed phonograph needles nearly that often back then. Obviously, many of the 78's you hear on youtube have background noise, and that was also how every 78 I've ever heard (handed down in my family, and others in other family collections I've heard) sounded like those youtube ones, and most people I know who remember them, remember them sounding like that also, with that kind of background "static".
And as for 20 plays ruining them, my guess is that many of them hit 20 plays in one day.