knock off wheel date question

[Bill W.]

A friend has a set of KOs with a stamped date of " A 12 8 65" . I guessing the date is 12 8 65 but what is the A ? Also when did the stamping change from a ink stamp to a stamped date ?

[Loren L.]

Re: knock off wheel date question

It is believed that the employee in charge of date-stamping K-H KOs was Mr. Kelsey's 8 year old grandson, who had not yet learned the alphabet or how to count. He was provided an unlimited selection of hammers, holders, letters and numbers and access to all the wheels as they were finished. He was also told that it didn't really matter if they weren't stamped, so he could feel free to go to the bathroom or outside whenever he wanted and to have fun.

[Bill W.]

Re: knock off wheel date question

Loren's explanation is as good as any I have heard of. Mr. Williamson's question is a great reason for judges NOT to judge dates stamped in KH knockoff wheels. Some dates appear to make sense, some don't. If they all can't be interupted correctly none should be judged. This is my opinion only. As to when KH switched from ink stamping to metal stamping, there is no clear cutoff date. My best guess based on restoring hundreds of these wheels is sometime around February, 1965. I have never seen an ink stamp later than March, 1965. There is an article due to be published in the "Restorer" soon that deals with KO wheels. Bill

[James W.]

Re: knock off wheel date question

Bill,

If you are the author of the article, I can't wait to read it.

Regards,

James West

Loren's explanation is as good as any I have heard of. Mr. Williamson's question is a great reason for judges NOT to judge dates stamped in KH knockoff wheels. Some dates appear to make sense, some don't. If they all can't be interupted correctly none should be judged. This is my opinion only. As to when KH switched from ink stamping to metal stamping, there is no clear cutoff date. My best guess based on restoring hundreds of these wheels is sometime around February, 1965. I have never seen an ink stamp later than March, 1965. There is an article due to be published in the "Restorer" soon that deals with KO wheels. Bill

[Mike Z.]

Re: knock off wheel date question

We have been restoring these wheels for years and have talked to several who claim to know. Loren has seen alot and he maybe correct, but many feel the alpha is a shift indication; I have seen several A, B, C, D, E; but have also seen H & J-so, I am still out on my opinion. The other camp seems to think the alpha was a mold inspection marking for quality control and warranty purposes. It is universally accepted (even 66 Judging Guide) that the numeric characters are indeed the date indication; although we have observed; especially in the 66 model run, examples with no year or have dates with both alpha and numeric i.e., A 16 66 (assumed to be Jan 16, 1966).
As Bill indicates; ink dates changed to hard hit stamps very early 65: earliest I have seen is 1 6 65 (January 6, 1965) and the latest ink date I have observed is Dec 14, 64 (most ink dates are illegible).
Mike