Athearn's first HO kits

Irvin R Athearn entered the model teain production arena during WWII. His first entry into the increasingly popular HO scale, was during the war, and consisted of only car sides, made of paper and wood.
His first kits were introduced in 1948, and were placed in these boxes. The box top was changed, in 1950, definitely dating these items to the 1948-1949 time period. The label used on these kits was a one of, also, being changed to a more visible yellow label.