Thanks for all the information. However, just to muddy the waters a bit more, in checking my decals again last night, I've realized that mine are slightly different. Instead of the "AS" in the center, mine just have an "S" in the same style, but the rest is the same. I also have some rectangular "Butted 4130 Chrome Molybdenum" decals in a very similar style, and same coloring. Included with this batch is a "Manufactured by Schwinn" decal with a Patent number. These all appear to be original, not reproductions. Sorry, no pix yet - maybe tonight. I'll have all this with me at the Cirque for the curious among us.
Wayne Bingham
Lovettsville VA
>>>>>>
Wayne/Bob:
I have copies of Official Team Schwinn photos of 38/39 vintage and the
A.S. CHROME MOLYBDENDUM decal is not in evidence at this early date.
I've never seen a pre-war Paramount with one and imagine they probably
appeared immediately post-war when Oscar Wastyn took over the frame
building from his father, Emil. In the 1953 catalog, Schwinn had a two
page spread featuring the full (P-32 track bike, P-31 men's and P-81
women's tourist) Paramount line up and stated, "FRAME-made to
customer's specifications from either Accles & Pollack or Reynolds 531
seamless drawn double butted tubing." Interestingly, it states the fork
is, "To customers specifications from best grade double tapered
seamless drawn chrome-molybdenum tubing."
Definitive information about this time frame of Paramount production is hard to come by, but my reference material suggests that the A.S. CHROME MOLYBDENDUM decal would have been used from approximately 1945 to 1952.
Bill Curtis
Costa Mesa, CA