i have a few in service here and no datecodes or even names in them.only one i was able to id is a 3 tube markstone.polished aluminum endcaps.ge 3 tube ballast.trash find.
the real puzzler is one a neighbor bought to do a period correct overhaul of a 40's house.he sold out before getting that far and i got it in the moving sale.pressed steel endcaps with a torch graphic.2x 15w.

They were popular in the early days of fluorescent lighting.
Did you see the adapters in this ad I posted from 1941?

I think they were popular from the very beginning.  The earliest were regular fluorescent fixtures that attached to regular fixtures, and could be quite elaborate.  I think those were popular in the 40s and 50s.  I haven't really seen anything along the line of fluorescent adapters until the late-70s when screw-in Circline adapters started to appear.