States standardize license plate size (1955)
The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, California) Dec 8, 1955
The automobile license plate finally is settling down after fifty-four carefree years in which it has come in all shapes and sizes.
A standardized, 6 by 12-inch plate, in which even the bolt holes are fixed down to 1/16th of an inch, has been agreed on by the forty-eight States, the District of Columbia, the provinces of Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico.
The target date for its universal use: October 1, 1957. And why should license plates be standardized? L. S. Harris, executive director of the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, said today there are several advantages.
AIDS MANUFACTURERS
First, he said, it’s a big help to manufacturers. Since they have had to serve a variety of plates — including Tennessee’s, cut out in the shape of the State they have tended to put brackets on any old way.
In the future, the rear license plate probably will be slipped on from inside the trunk. Second, it should help the police. They figure it will be easier to light, and better protected from mud. Third, it should help motorists, Harris said, by being easier to install and, since it will be locked in the trunk, harder to steal.
ONE PLATE OR TWO
Most manufacturers will begin by working on where to put the rear plate. That’s because every member of the sixty-five organizations in the Vehicle Administrators’ Association has laws calling for rear plates. Only two-thirds of them require front plates, too. No one knows whether the trend is toward one or toward two plates.
Look at New York. Legally, it’s a two plate state. Yet beginning with the war, New York passed emergency legislation saying that this year we’ll do with one. Each year, it has passed similar emergency measures.
BIG SAVINGS
Sure, they know the war is over. But they also know they can save a half-million dollars in materials if they don’t make a front plate. New York probably had the first license plates, back in 1901. [Editor’s note: Some sources say that a man named Earl Russell received the first NY license plate back in 1901 for his 12-hp Panhard automobile.]
In those days, an automobilist went down, registered his car with the county clerk, got a number and went home and made his own license, usually out of leather and ordinary house numbers.
Not until around 1913 did states realize they had a potential mint here, and started making license plates to raise tax money.
NEW LAWS SEEN
Are more standardizations in the works? Harris says “Yes” in the field of law enforcement. A new code is being agreed on by all the States, and if you want a one-word description, Harris has it: Tougher.
“A good idea,” Harris said. “For too long we have paid too little attention to the problem of traffic violations, and I’m hoping this code will help.
“If someone stepped out on Pennsylvania Avenue” — the main drag between the Capitol and the White House — “and fired a pistol into the air, every cop in town would come running. And yet, compared with the fellow who barrels through a red light, he’s not nearly as dangerous.”
1950s license plates: Florida, Michigan, North Dakota, Georgia, Minnesota, Ohio, Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Illinois, Montana, Pennsylvania
Vintage 1956 license plates: Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Alaska
Also Canadian plates: Quebec, Saskatchewan, NWT, Yukon
Vintage 1950s license plates: Alabama, Arizona, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska
Colorado, Louisiana, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maine, New Mexico
Vintage 1956 license plates: Arkansas, Kansas, Nevada, California, Kentucky, New Hampshire
Old ’56 license plates: Delaware, Maryland, New York, Washington DC, Massachusetts, North Carolina
1956 state license plates: Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee
Also Canadian plates: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick
1956 car license plates: Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia
Also Canadian plates: Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island
Rusty old US license plates
1940 New Mexico, 1956 California, 1967 Texas
1954 Idaho, 1956 Pennsylvania, 1959 Arizona
1937 New Mexico, 1957 Wyoming, 1951 South Dakota
1932 Ohio, 1937 New Mexico, 1967 Montana
1932 California, 1973 Arizona, 1945 California
Old ’53 license plates color schemes: Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Wyoming
Also Canadian plates: Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon
Vintage ’53 license plates: Alabama, Iowa, Arizona, Kansas, Arkansas, Kentucky
Calssic car license plates from 1953: California, Louisiana, Colorado, Maine, Connecticut, Maryland
Old license plates: Nevada, South Dakota, New Hampshire, Tennessee
Also Canadian plates from 1953: Manitoba, New Brunswick
Old-style 1953 license plates: Delaware, Massachusetts, Washington D.C., Michigan, Florida, Minnesota
Auto license plates from 1953: Georgia, Mississippi, Idaho, Missouri
Vintage Illinois, Montana, Indiana & Nebraska license plates
1953 license plates: New Jersey, Texas, New Mexico, Utah, New York, Vermont, North Carolina, Virgina
Also Canadian plates: Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island
Vintage license plates: North Dakota, Washington, Ohio, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Wisconsin
Also Canadian plates: Quebec, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories
Vintage ’65-’66 license plates: Minnesota, Alabama, Maryland
Old ’61-’62 license plates: New York
1965 license plates: Oregon, Georgia, Delaware, Arkansas, Wisconsin, New Hampshire
Classic car ’65 license plate colors: Hawaii, Alaska, West Virginia, New Jersey, Louisiana, Illinois
Old ’60s license plates: Washington, Utah, Iowa, Ohio
1960s license plates: Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico
Vintage special license plates: Historic and more
Historical South Dakota, Oregon State Senator, 1975 Canal Zone (former U.S. territory of the Panama Canal Zone), Iowa antique plate, Ohio, Kansas, Arizona historic vehicle, South Carolina antique auto, Kansas antique car, Maine 1968, Illinois, Bicentennial decorative plate, South Carolina 1973, Iowa antique plate, Alaska 1975
