Otto,
Since my truck is a combination of various years, I find it hard to remember specifics about what I have researched for various years!
Jim Carter's "Bed Restoration Manual for Early Chevrolet and GMC Pickup Trucks" indicates that the stamped letters on the tailgate appeared only in 1939 and 1940, and then after 1946.
I don't know if tailgates were available without the stamped letters as an option during the years when the stamped letters were manufactured.
