I think many many years ago the military was held in very high esteem by the public. They won us 2 world wars after all.
From 1918 until fairly recently,there must have been a Major or 3 in every golf club in the country, with the odd Colonel and General for good measure.
People looked up to them and rightly so. They may have played up to it, but I am sure no one minded. Why shouldn't they be addressed by their military title?
These days no one really has much of an idea about the military, let alone ranks, so potentially most people wouldn't have an idea if someone addressed themselves as Major etc.
For myself, I never got beyond the Bulldog and Cadet Pilot status. For some reason my friends at home decided to call me Captain for a while and that confused people.
Now I went to work on the Stock Exchange and everyone there had a nickname. There were however many Captains, Majors and Colonels, all of whom apparently had military service. There were few if any navy or airforce X officers however.
Now you may have heard this, but it was always stated as fact. Slightly before my time on the floor, but there were two brothers who both served in WW2. One was called the Hero, the other was known as the Coward.
The reason being apparently, the Coward had only won an MC and his Hero brother the VC!