BITD standard chainsets were 52 or 53/39 with a 130mm BCD (135 for Campy). Smallest chainring that will fit on a 130 BCD spider is a 38. I nostalgically refer to them as big-boy gears, since that’s what I called them when I was strong enough to push them.

When cassettes started to get more cogs and triples started to go out of fashion, manufacturers started marketing “compact” chainsets with 110 BCD spiders that could accommodate a 34 T chainring for people who wanted race bikes, but weren’t strong enough to push race gears. As universally as I can recall, they came configured as 50/34. In common usage today with modern equipment that have mostly proprietary bolt patterns, I can’t think of or find any examples of chainsets marketed as “compact” that aren’t 50/34, and I don’t remember ever hearing of a “compact” crank until maybe the late 90’s or early 00’s.

Regarding the OP’s question, it depends on what you are trying to do with the bike. My preference for a period correct C&V bike is to either keep the big-boy gears it came with or set it up with a period-correct half-step triple. If you’re just trying to update an old frame to make it ridable it doesn’t really matter. Same triple vs. double arguments as always apply.