Sounds like your new finish is having a problem getting any traction on the old finish. Look at it this way 50 years of surface waxes and oxidation have made the old finish too slippery in the pores for your new finish to stick to the old finish surface. I would try a rotten stone slurry to remove the surface finish down in those pores. Or perhaps a mineral spirt or lacquer thinner rub down. It is all a mater of surface prep and getting a new finish that will bond to the old one.