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From: Walt Vogdes
Remote Name: 24.113.100.133
Date: 10/08/2007
Time: 05:34:06 PM
Factory marks and form numbers both suffer from the same weakness - they are useful for establishing the date at which a mark or form was introduced, but not useful at telling us over a usually wide range of years when a particular stein was made. Mettlach marked their steins with the year of manufacture, other factories did not. Sometimes there are other hints in the decoration (Oktoberfest 1915 was most likely produced in 1915), or in a dated inscription, although inscriptions can be added many years later, and can have a date added to suit the purpose of the owner. Artistic style is another means of judging age, but at the end of the day, all the clues need to be considered together.