Thank you for the detailed response. It cleared many questions asked and unasked. I very much appreciate the time you have dedicated to this.
I can't speak to England, but the cultural tradition of bicycle makers in Italy was for low-cost transportation or racing. And if anything, the highest focus was on low-cost transportation than racing. You cannot make that claim today for lugged steel builders in Italy.
I do think where there is a maintained cultural tradition for lugged steel frames is for randonneuring in France. Still maintained by Alex Singer and other builders in France, I think a case can be made.
I'm not so sure what cultural phenomenon it would be in the US. We never cared for bikes, let alone a finely made lugged one.