My first ever deer rifle was a Marlin 336 in .30-30 caliber. I purchased it just out of high school while working at a local K Mart where I lived. The K Mart had a sporting goods section in the store and I usually spent every spare moment there when either on lunch or break. I put the rifle on lay-a-way and paid it out over several months. I sold that rifle several years later just prior to getting out of the service because I wanted to buy a car. After that the Marlin lever action pretty much took a back seat to my other firearm interests until a few years ago.
I came across an early Marlin 336A that caught my eye at a local gun show that I thought I should acquire. After getting it home and cleaning it up I did some research on the early Marlin 336 rifles and discovered that between the years of 1948-1952 the Marlin 336 rifles became affectionately known as the "waffle top" due to the squiggly line roll marking on the top of the receivers. I discovered they made three different models and decided I would attempt to collect at least one of each of the models. They of course would have to be what was considered as being "unmolested" (not D&T for a scope). It took about two years of looking and I was able to achieve my goal.
Here is a photo of my current Marlin 336 unmolested "waffle top" rifle collection. All but one has had receiver sights. I have one for each year between 1948 and 1952. The three models are top two 336A, middle one 336SC, and bottom two 336RC.