Keep in mind that the Mac Plus can run very old System and Finder versions [< 2.0/4.1] which do not even offer a Shut Down command. Hence, in the early days, you had no choice but to flip the power switch with everything "up and running" so to speak.

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Yes, but the proper procedure was to eject the disk first, during which time the desktop status was "saved" to disk. However that didn't prevent an active application, or unsaved document from residing in RAM. System 2.0/4.1 added the Shut Down command in April '85, presumably to help prevent accidental power-downs with active RAM items, or failure to eject the disks. Arguably this was a necessary step for Apple in developing the 800K drive in early '85, which required parking of the drive heads upon shutdown to prevent head damage, not to mention un-mounting the HD20 which was announced in April '85 as well. Also, since third party hard drives had been around since the end of '84, Apple was probably under pressure as well to accommodate those drives for which an accidental power-down could be devastating.