Thank you so much for your reply, the patent dates are on the metal supports that hold the top open, I had to crop my photos in order to upload them. I will take one of where the metal supports are. In the 2nd set of photos, you can see the entire date. As I looked at it just now, it kind of looks like an "A" at the end of the year. I will use Jons suggestions of the needles and such. Thank you again.