The wheels of a Spence Wolf-built 1965 Cinelli Supercorsa I once rode remained true despite never having been touched. The bike didn't have too many miles, but it was 30 years old. With older rims and less dish, spoke tensions used to be lower on the driveside than what you have to do with 8- or more-speed.
I have ridden a number of 1950s French bikes for hundreds of miles each, and the wheels have not given trouble. These wheels do not exhibit the problems you describe. So I can say that Singer and Herse built good wheels back then.
That said, many local riders used to have the worst of luck with reputable local wheel builders. One tandem rider once commented how finally, he was getting 1000 miles out of a wheel before it needed a complete rebuild. He thought that was very good mileage. And some second-hand wheels I have bought have given trouble, until I rebuilt them with new spokes...
Is it possible that during the bike boom of the 1970s, the demand for qualified wheelbuilders far outstripped the supply? And that good information on how to do it wasn't easy to find?
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Jan Heine, Seattle
Editor/Publisher
Vintage Bicycle Quarterly
c/o Il Vecchio Bicycles
140 Lakeside Ave, Ste. C
Seattle WA 98122
http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com