1931-32 "Pitchfork" info

Thanks Randy!!

Hello. Yes they were chrome. r

Hi all,
I have been able to obtain an original upper "pitchfork" grille insert for my car. Being 'potmetal' (zinc) it is in rough condition from all of the years, dirt, and off gassing of the 80+ year old zinc. I have done some sanding/rubbing/polishing to get portions of it to shine up pretty well considering its' original (to me) condition.
My question is were these originally coated/plated? I have not seen ANY evidence of copper plating over the original metal, if they were originally just nickle plated, did the nickle go straight onto the zinc?

Additionally, was chrome plating that expensive/tough to do in the 1930's? It seems as if 'everyone' went with just nickle plating and called it "Good enough"?
and yes, I am aware of the chrome plating process, I just cannot figure why you would do 95% of the work to prepare a piece, and then "Lay down" and not put the hard chrome on it....