[dmjlambert]

In my experience in the late 60s and early 70s in Texas, all pickup trucks came new with that type of rear bumper. I don't recall ever seeing a plain or chrome "factory" bumper on any truck, unless the owner swapped the stamped steel dealer bumper out. But nobody really started doing that until the mid to late 70s when people decide these trucks were showpiece cars and stopped helping friends move into a new apartment for fear of scratching the bed. It was like a whole shift in the culture. I believe the dealerships received all the trucks from the factory without the bumper, and a license plate holder with light was installed underneath the truck bed to make the truck "legal." When the truck was received at the dealership, they disconnected the license plate light, bent the tab on the license plate holder so the new dealer bumper could be installed, and installed their bumper. My bumper is stamped D&D BUMPERWORKS SEGUIN TX, and in bigger letters DORAN CHEV INC DALLAS TEXAS. I still have the unused factory license plate holder behind the bumper. Things may have been different in other states.