Lew,
I have no theory on why this design was used by Roth. I have a full box with, as far as the two sides you show, is identical to yours, but the cartridges don’t have “the look” of Geco rounds. I know this is a totally inadequate way to judge who made a cartridge. Here it is simply an observation on my part, not stated as fact, and I am not sure about it at all, myself.
My box is, however, unmistakenly green everywhere your box is blue. It does have the same orange strips though, like yours, not like the red (with slight orange “tinge”) of the Geco box.
I must note that the cartridges ARE very uncharacteristic of Roth, for common calibers, in that they are unheadstamped.
Inside one labe on the end-opening flap has what appears to have been some sort of an insignia or trademark, but it is so lightly stamped (not faded, as the outside of my box is not faded at all, and would certainly fade much sooner than something not normally exposed to light) it is illegible. I have no idea what it was. Perhaps yours has the same stamp?
Not much real info here, but thought you might be interested, especially for the different color (regarding previous conversations about color perception, your box looks definitely blue to me in the picture, and mine is most definitely green).
John Moss
