I made a quick Gebr. Merkel serial number - year of production research and here are the results:

10000 circa 1920
15654 8/1927
17012 1929
18914 3/1931
21849 1935 (Added by montenegrin - Febr. 9, 2009)
34874 12/1951
36582 12/1952
40496 1956
48181 1958
59826 1/1964
71829 1969
77667 1971
107321 5/1987

So my "educated guess" is that my Merkel #21849 was probably made in 1933 or 1934.
-Jani

P.S.: Thanks for posting the picture, JC - and I trust you had a nice birthday party!

Last edited by montenegrin; 02/09/09 11:20 AM.