Daryl-
If Drew's catalogue has a spurious date then that does leave open the possibility that the AJ Aubrey line was "replaced" by the Meriden line. If so, that would have happened at some point in time after the departure of Aubrey, so it would be nice to look at the 1910 and later Sears catalogues and see if there are no longer any Aubrey firearms, but only the Meriden line. If so that would be some support for the evolution theory (re-branding) of the Aubrey line evolving into the Meriden line.
Others (and I have no way of knowing the basis for their comments) have stated that the Meriden line was marketed outside of the Sears catalogue, and to other retailers (i.e., hardware stores and sporting goods stores).
Serial numbers might also hold the key, but only if all the firearms were numbered in manufacturing sequence. Does anyone own (or has anyone seen) an AJ Aubrey hammer shotgun with a higher serial number than 24063?
Manufacturing details might also be a key. Does anyone own (or has anyone seen) an AJ Aubrey hammer shotgun with coil spring locks?
This is the sort of question the Sears company could answer very easily (and perhaps has already answered for the previous researchers).
I would love to see any articles on the Meriden and Aubrey lines if anyone would care to share them: dbadcraig@sbcglobal.net.
Doug
