While it may be attributable to slightly different angles, where it is near impossible to get the exact angle of the camera used 82 years ago, to my eye, the back edges of the greens seem higher. The greens seem to slope back to front a little more dramatically. If this is the case, might the shaving down have been done by request of golfers due to softer greens and the maintenance meld with more watering?
Similarly, the back side of these greens from the old days seem like they may have even more dramatic fall-away, into junk. Given the greens roll faster with new age mowing and cultural practices, the slope needed to be reduced to allow chips back onto the greens from the rear to have a chance of holding on the green. In the olden days, the greens speed was probably slow enough where the chips from behind would not roll off the front as likely as they would with today's green speeds.