Well, I stopped in and bought a coil from a suzuki and a condenser from the misc. box. After wiring both into the circuit with alligator clips, it turns out neither was the culprit. I had been jumping the Dream off another running bike ( a Yamaha TW200) but never took out the battery on the dream from the equation. After almost giving up, I pulled the battery and connected straight to the TW 200 battery and finally got spark. So now I'm stuck with an extra coil and condenser, but I'm happy.
I sprayed a little starter fluid (circa 1980s, contained real ether) and got the bike running for about 5 seconds. Success! After this milestone, I hooked up a length of 1/4" line straight to the carb but couldn't get it to run off that, so my next step is to clean the carb. I'm still very happy to be past the electrical troubleshooting stage, and surprised that removing the bad battery from the equation solved the problem, since I was measuring 12v everywhere WITH the battery hooked up. Live and learn.
I managed to snap a few shots in the basement of cycle part heaven for your drooling enjoyment:
The aisle with literally hundreds of coils:

Shocks and brake calipers:

Fenders:

Lighting and badges:

Carb City:

I'm grateful for everybody's help -- if I can find you a part, let me know...
-phil