Retired framebuilder Dave Moulton has a nice blog article on the history of steering geometry HERE. Dave says bicycles built in the 1930s through the 1950s typically had as much as 3 ½ inches (9cm.) of fork rake resulting in very little trial, often zero, and that there was a theory at that time that trail made steering heavy and sluggish.

He also mentions that in the early fifties when he started racing, road conditions at that time - especially in countries like Italy and France - were often appalling, and the long fork rake and the long wheelbase had a dampening affect on the rough road conditions.

His BLOG is packed with great cycling articles.