Virginia Metalcrafters (VM) put a copyright date on many of their orignial designs beginning about the 1950's. I notice many sellers referring to "vintage" or "antique" VM items and noting the date cast into the item. This date has nothing to do with the date of manufacture. It is impossible in most every case to tell if a product that was copyrighted in 1948 and that bears that date for instance, was actually produced in 1948 or 2002 (assuming the product stayed in the line that long).

My family owned and/or ran VM from 1953 until 1982. I am a former sales rep. and national sales manager for the company.