If oil-bath filters weren't superior at getting rid of dust, they wouldn't have used them in farm tractors.
They haven't used oil-bath air cleaners for John Deere tractors since 1972. And the engines today are larger and use much more air (turbochargers).
Everyone talks like they used oil bath instead of paper elements in the old days by choice. I didn't think paper filters were invented until the 1960s, so they really was no alternative to oil bath "back in the day".
INTERNET RESEARCH NOTE: Okay, looks like Fram invented paper air filters in about 1950, and the first production car to have one was the 1952 Studebaker.
