[firebones]

I suspect it's a little of column A and a little of column B. I asked my pop this question in the early 1970s and his answer was the first part of the SO answer--so that it wasn't dated as old. This predated the internet, predated video and cable TV, and seemed conventional wisdom at the time. I'm inclined to believe that the reason it was used after all those other technical advancements was simply tradition.

See also car model years beginning in September as another shelf-life improvement technique.

[tyingq]

If you couch it as "preserving timelessness" or "suspension of disbelief" it fits what an artistic group of people might have had in mind better than "deception".

[parallel]

I think you're providing ways to describe deception that are themselves deceptive.