Joel added a very important visual addition to the discussion with his post:
"There are subtle changes in the logos over the years. the prewar ones
were Marque depose, and that was continued into the early to mid 1950s,
then the "marque" was dropped out of the logo. The "marque" then
appeared back with the Model 63 super champion crankset, introduced
around 1963. it was also put back on the Mod. 49 cranks too. there are
many slight differences in tooling of the cranks as well. here is a
photo showing 5 different cranks, with different logos, the top being
the oldest to the bottom being a 70s model. look at things like the "s"
and "g". http://bikeville.com/
I have two very minor things to add, that apparently everybody has missed so far. The markings on the rear of the cranks, given model and crank length changed quite a bit over time and do seem to help in the determination of the production date. Perhaps somebody with photographic evidence, like that already supplied by Joel about the frontal marking, wants to comment. Secondly, the French word Marque is used as we would use trademark in English and is of female gender, so when you want to use the French equivalent of the saying "registered trademark", it becomes "marque déposée", not marquée déposé. In French grammar, you do not include accents on capitalized letters, so they do not appear but are understood to be there. Taking this topic a bit further, the use of the French word "marque" is routinely mangled by both car and bike collectors. Marque is always correctly pronounced exactly like the English name "Mark" when speaking of a brand (one syllable). There is a second English word "marquee" that is pronounced Mar-Kee which is used to describe the advertising sign outside of theaters or a type of tent. This word marquee is a variation on the French word Marquise and in French describes a specific type of tent in this particular instance.
A marque (pronounced "Mark") specialist is somebody knowledgeable about a particular brand. A Marquee (pronounced "mar-Kee") name is generally intended to indicate a person with "star" quality that would attract attention if shown on the advertising board outside a theater.
Steven Maasland
Moorestown, NJ
USA