Tom - Just double checking. The 1968-71 Marlin (North Haven, CT) guns certainly appear to have cyanide case colors, but I don't recall seeing a 1945-50 Marlin (L.C. Smith Gun Company, Fulton, NY) gun with cyanide case colors.
Here is my humble Marlin 1946 Field Grade with the traditional bone and charcoal case colors. Also I believe the frame and fitting production issues were especially encountered during the 1968 reintroduction, not during the Marlin Fulton production period. That is what I have known, but I certainly could be missing something here (happens all the time
).
Fred - As far as value goes, yes I certainly like the pre-1913 graded guns the best, but they don't make any of them anymore and I would still take a 1945-50 Elsie over any junk made today. Even the Field Grades have an intrinsic value well beyond what someone pens in Blue Book.
Bob