Arizona is the only state to make license plates out of copper.
Copper
was
used in 1932, 1933, and 1934. The 1934 plate has a patent number along the
bottom edge. (*)
Initially British Columbia's 1996 stickers were colored black
on
white.
However the color was changed to pink on white for late months because
people were xeroxing the stickers to make fake ones! (From Jim Palmer)
The front tab for the 1916 California plate had a place for the
owner to
scratch in his name. (*)
California issued special 1960 plates for the governors and
dignataries
cars for the Democratic National convention at the Sports Arena, Los
Angeles. They pictured a donkey with the logo Democratic National
Convention 1960. (From Ronald Rodarte)
Between 1903 and 1905, the State of Connecticut issued no plates at
all,
but instead issued each motor vehicle owner a number. It was the
responsibility of the vehicle owner to have a license plate made up to be
displayed on the vehicle. Many of these were made in Black-smith shops.
One my collection has a steel
rectangular frame, covered with Leather and then had what appeared to be
"White Metal" numbers riveted on it. Even
a piece of wood with numbers painted on it could be used. In
Vermont,
before they issued plates, when they gave you a number, rather then make
up a plate and possibly block the air flow to your radiator, you could
simply paint the number on the radiator if you chose to. (From Norman W.
Osborne)
Other than some early pre states, Connecticut's 1937 base was
the
first
United States plate intended to be used "permanently". It was made of
heavy-guage aluminum with no background paint (thus none to fade or rust).
Slots at the bottom were made to accommodate annual revalidation tabs. It
was used for 11 years before the next "permanent" plate was issued. (*)
The last state to issue a porcelain plate is Delaware, in 1942.
(*)
Florida was the last state to introduce state-wide license
plates,
back in
1918.
The 1941 Georgia plate is the first reflectorized general issue
plate
in
United States history, and is the first plate to use a decal. (*)
The 'World Famous Potatoes' slogan on Idaho plates first
appeared in
1948,
long before the 1956 slogan (which said World Famous Potato, not
Potatoes.) In addition the '53 plate carried the same slogan three years
earlier than the '56. Also, way back in 1928 the plate said "Idaho
Potatoes." (From George Sammeth, #4013).
Only 100 sets of the 1983 style Idaho 'Street Rod' plates were
made before
changing to the graphic red/white/blue base. These plates feature a Model
A Highboy Roadster. (From Don Warner)
Illinois front plates from 1912 to 1918 all allowed air to pass
through,
thus not blocking air flow to the radiator. (*)
Perhaps the biggest mystery to United States license plate collectors
is a
small letter used on Kentucky license plates from 1910 to 1913.
Evidently
the earliest plates contained a "B" which later was replaced by an "L",
then a "M", and finally a "G". Although theories have been suggested
nobody knows that these letters stand for. (*)
Manitoba is the last jursdiction in North America to issue
metal tabs,
in
1970. (From Joseph Sallmen)
In some years the Michigan colors represented university
colors. For
example, 1954 was maize on blue for University of Michigan; MSU followed
in 1955 with white on green. (From James N. McNally)
In 1996, Nevada's state legislature considered a bill that
would
require
all pre-1983 blue white on blue plates to be turned in and replaced with
current graphic plates. There was such a public outcry that the bill was
killed before it was ever voted on. (From KH7CZ)
Due to the shortage of metal in WW2, New Brunswick made
Motorcycle and
Trailer plates out of wood! (From Joseph Sallmen)
New Hampshire's slogan "Live Free or Die" is among the most
controversial
in license plate history. One couple coupled challenged its use and the
Supreme Court ruled the state could keep it but citizens could cover it up
if they chose. (*)
New Jersey was the last state to switch over to issuing
reflectorized
license plates, in 1992. They did experiment with reflective plates around
1970, but only issued a small number at that time. (From J Maher)
In 2001, New York reinstated its old slogan "Empire State" on
its
license
plates. The first time that slogan was used was exactly 50 years before,
in 1951. (From Wally Punzmann)
Early Ontario and Newfoundland motorcycle plates came in sets
of 3.
Two
were mounted back-to-back to be placed on the front fender, the third was
for the rear. (From Joseph Sallmen)
Ontario license plates in the -ZZZ series were recently issued
from
the
Ottawa license office. However, plate 999-ZZZ was issued as a vanity years
ago. (From John Hayes) Additionally, you can see a picture of the very
last six-digit passenger plate to be issued in Ontario (998-ZZZ) on page
173 of the August 1998 Newsletter.
Quebec used galvanized steel plates for a very brief period in
1981
for
the dated 1979 permanent base. It was the first time since 1951 that a
material other than aluminum was used. The first of these galvanized
plates were made of a heavy gauge steel, moving to a lighter gauge before
returning to aluminum. (From Louis Lamy, #6292)
The University of Teennessee beat the University of Texas in the 1951
Cotton Bowl (20-14), and the Tennessee legislature quickly made the
decision to release the 1951 Tennessee license plates in the UT colors of
orange and white. That plate is now perhaps the most frequently sought
after Tennessee license plate. (From D. Smith)
During the prestate era in Texas (1907 to mid-1917) motor
vehicles
were
registered by the individual counties, not the state. Each county began
numbering vehicles at # 1. This meant that with over 200 counties in
Texas, by 1917 there were potentially over 200 vehicles in Texas all
bearing license plate # 1. (From Jim Palmer)
The county in Texas with the lowest number of vehicles
registered is
Loving County, in West Texas. In 1975 Loving County received only 150 pair
of passenger plates to issue whereas Harris County (Houston) received over
one million pair. Harris County issued all of its plates before the end of
1975 and had to receive more numbers while Loving County had still not
issued all of its 150 pairs by 1982!(From Jim Palmer)
During World War II some states used a soybean based fiberboard to
make
license plates. It is said that these plates were popular among goats who
enjoyed eating them. (*)
About the legend of goats eating plates, Charles R Fregeau, ALPCA# 2332, says:
In 1943, my grandfather
had to order a
replacement 1943 Illinois license plate.
He was a vital war worker with the oil industry in Southern Illinois, so he drove his
car a lot. One day he parked his car near the fence, and his horse took a bite out of
the bottom. He had 9 kids and lived out on a farm, so during WW2 he still had a horse
as well as a car. I have heard this confirmed from several members of his family that
were old enough at the time to remember the incident, though some have now passed from
the scene.
Several states issued fibreboard plates during World War II. However,
Virginia was the only state to issue embossed fibreboard plates.
Most of
these were issued in 1944 and were black on yellow. Some are known from
1942 (white on black) and the 1943 motorcycle plate (white on black).
(From Tom Smith)
Washington is no longer going to issue vanity plates on the
green/lemon
yellow base. This combination was an option for vanity plates since they
became available; all vanity plates will now be issued on the mountain
base. (From John Rowe)
In Washington DC the president used to be issued plate #100,
however this
tradition ended in the late 60s or early 70s, probably because of security
reasons. (*)
The 1906 West Virginia plate measures 3-7/8" by 6-3/4" and is
made of
such
a thin tin material that it could almost be crumpled in the palm of your
hand! (*)
*The source of the above information with asterisks is License Plates of
the United States by Jim Fox. The book contains pictures and history for
all 50 states. It is published by IDPubCo.
If you have some plate trivia that could be added to this page, please
send us some feedback.
