When steel was the material of choice one could get quality steel rims that were designed to take massive amounts of abuse and these were optimal if hub brakes were used since the braking performance with rim brakes tends to be lacking, especially in the rain.
These rims tended to be fitted to more utilitarian bicycles so they were wider and stronger and ran higher volume tyres and the biggest virtue is that a steel rim can be straightened, which is good in places where things like this are not considered disposable.
Skinnier road wheels in steel tended to be fitted to lower end / entry level bicycles and were never that good... Araya may have been an exception in that they produced some pretty high quality steel rims.
I work on so many old Raleigh bicycles with steel wheels and have had wheels that have come in with multiple broken spokes that were still running remarkably true.
The stainless Dunlop wheels on my 1955 Raleigh are a thing of beauty, when this bicycle was built aluminium rims were still in the development stage and even though they were available, people put their faith in steel.
With the abundance of high quality alloy rims you are not going to see disc hubs laced to steel rims, it would add weight where it served no purpose.
I still use steel rims in some restoration work where there are no suitable aluminium replacements but if a Raleigh Sports needs new wheels I will build around CR18 rims with a high polish that mimics the chrome because it is such a worthwhile upgrade that puts the vintage bike on braking par with it's modern counterparts.