It's hard saying how long the original varnish held up on these grips and whether it deteriorated right away or not. Here is one on Paul's site that is very close to the same. Perhaps with this lighter grip this company used, they felt the need to darken these grips up to better match the uniforms of the SA membership.
http://www.lakesidetrader.com/pics/SA-285d.jpg

And here is one on Bill's site as what Moore was talking about.
http://www.therupturedduck.com/WebPages/Edged/e436a.htm