noglider 

Long ago, when I was a bike mechanic, a cow-orker of mine, also a bike mechanic, took apart a wheel and straightened the bare rim, on the floor. He scribed a circle on the floor as a template. I was very skeptical, but this guy had just gotten an engineering or materials science degree from MIT and really knew what he was doing. He did it because it was a rare size rim. It's not normally worthwhile doing it because it's very labor intensive. Anyway, it worked.

Since then, I've done it a few times. It's rather amazing how well it works. But again, it takes a long time and may not be worthwhile. I strongly prefer aluminum rims over steel, and I'm not a period-perfect purist (PPP?), and I would put aluminum rims on an old bike. Not everyone would, though.