WPL numbers and RN numbers possible 40s garments?

[LousyLoversVintage]

I wanted to ask a question to some experts about wpl numbers and rn numbers. I am finding conflicting information on them on various dating vintage info sites on the internet.

One reads wpl numbers start with 00101 end at 13669 and began in 1941 and stayed in use for about 18 years until 1959?? Is this true?

So any garment that has a wpl number on a tag could possibly be from 1941 to 1959? I have found an interesting brocade jacket with a low wpl number in the 9000s but it looks like a 70s style.
Also a green sweater with a number of 11835 .

Is it quite possible these garments are actually from say the sixities or 70s even though the tag is clearly stating wpl?
So i wanted to be sure about the way wpls were used and when. I know rns took over after 1959

 

[retro ruth]

I'm less familiar with WPL than RN, but I'm pretty sure the same applies:

A number may have been issued in 1941 or 1959 etc, but can stay in use and be used on labels, long after the issue date - it may be still be in use today. So if you know approximately what date a number was issued, all that tells you is a No Earlier Than Date (and usually an approximate one at that).

So if you find a garment with number that was issued in 1941, it can still be from the 1970s, or from last week. It only tells you that the garment can't be 1930s or earlier

This government site states: "Many years ago, the FTC issued WPL numbers to companies manufacturing wool products subject to the Wool Products Labeling Act. We no longer issue WPL numbers, but many are still in use. They are used in the same manner as RN numbers"

 

[retro ruth]

I am finding conflicting information on them on various dating vintage info sites on the internet.

Unfortunately there's lots of bad information out there. People like to think there are simple instant ways to date something, eg if it has a wpl number it must be from before 1959, if it has a metal zip it must be 50s etc. It's only human nature to want it to work like that, but it's usually more complicated. You need be aware there are exceptions to every rule, and when dating garments you always have to look at several factors.

There are a few hard and fast rules, eg if it has the woolmark is can't be earlier than 1964 as that's when it was first used, but those rules are few and far between. And even that, if someone found out the woolmark was trialled earlier in some countries, I wouldn't be surprised.