Ron J
Active member
This subject may not be of interest to most of you,unless you need to register a vehicle! As a kid,i always was interested in license plates,wanted one from every state! Never pursued it,but kept any plates i could get my hands on.
Around 1967,i as returning from a vaca in Montreal,returning by cutting across Le'praire?,thru upstate VT.,down thru the White Mountains in N.H. Halted at a barnsale,and was looking thru a box of 1930's N.H. lic plates.
A guy a couple of yrs older than i,approached me,inquiring,about my interest in the plates. He introduce himselve as Tom Smith,vacationing from Virginia.He informd me of a club,dedicated to license plates!! Called "A.L.P.C.A" Auto License Plate Collectors Assoc. Needless to say,i became member #1554 shortly after that, by chance meeting.
You know whats next! The chase was on,i went to tow yards,junk yards,advertised in local "bargain hunter" guides.Chased all leads.Finally recieved firt edition of the ALPCA newsletter,and a complete roster of all members. I wanted every year of every state!(dope) I wrote letters to every member.Letters to every Datsun dlr,why not,i was a Partsmanager at a Datsun dlr? Got a lot of response from both. Still did not have a plate,fro m every state!
Finally I set goals! First,a plate from all 50 states.Second a plate for every year of the original 13 colonies! Third,a plate for every year of every state! Hell,i was only 17 or so!!
Finally I acheived the first goal,Wisconsin was the last of the 50,i needed.Got it from a friends brother who was a trucker. Now to work on that second goal!
Back then you could write to any member,ask for certain years from his home state,and swap the same from your state! It wasn't a big money thing YET.Alot of friendly trading went on. It took awhile,but i finally realized i was nuts,and better specialize.By now my cellar was covered wall to wall with plates!!
I started to specialize,narrowing my collection to porcelain plates only.Meaning mostly they were from 1903 to maybe the mid twenties.Became a heavy hitter with other collectors. Some plates could reach couple hundred dollars each,depending on yr,state,condition.Met many friends thru the club.
Every year Alpca hosted a National Convention,3rd week of June.Had to book a hotel,and space,a year in advance! The first National i attended was in ENID OKLAHOMA,(Home of the first parking meter)in 1974.Drove there with a fellow collector,and very good friend,Conrad Hughson.His ALPCA # is 290 i think.He started in the 50's!
We took a 69 GTO i owned at the time.Took three days to get there,even with my lead foot! We spent a day at the ARCHWAY,and sailed on a paddlewheel on the MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI! I'll never forget it.Spent 3 days in ENID,just dealing,swapping license plates.
Attended many Nat'l meets over the years.One National was at the University of Michigan,the whole convention hall was filled with license plate collectors,for the 3 days.People from most states,Canada,and Europe attended. A couple of years later,I sold my collection,to try to save a marriage.Should of sold the EX! Oh Well!
In the early 80's,the license plate bug,BIT ME again!I had visited my buddy Conrad,in Vermont,and of course he showed me some of his collection. I remember leaving with a few porcelin plates,and a mighty thin wallet! Within a couple of years,my LIVINGROOM walls were full of first issue's and porcelin license plates.Linda,did not like the decor,but she knew the choice,NONE!
Did'nt matter anyhow,around 84 or 85,the MUSCLECAR BUG bit me,BIG TIME. Sold the 2nd plate collection for a hefty $um.
Alittle license plate trivia:: First State to issue a number,you made the base,leather,shingle,or painted #'s on the veh,1901 or 1902.(i forget)? NEW YORK! First State to issue a license plate? TAXACHUSETTS in 1903,starting with #1 In 1916,the numbers hit SIX digits! For Fred TEXAS first year of issue? 1915 (if i remember correctly without cheating) Maine issued BRASS plates,supposedly scrap ammo from the war,in late 1946,alum yr tag in 47,and All BRASS in 1948. Arizona issued COPPER plates in 1932/33/34. Also in the 60's,70's,80's,their Horseless Carriage plates.(Antique Car)
Massachusetts had a bit of a problem in 1928,A Codfish was stamped on all passenger plates.The problem was, the fish was "swimming' away from the State name on the plate,it was a bad year for the fishing industry,and being superstious,they blamed this issue.
In 1929,the State "made good" by only stamping the Codfish on Commercial/truck plates,and made the Cod "swim" back towards the state name! This plate is really scarce,because of limited truck production,versus passenger producton. Idaho,in the early 40's i believe,had a large SPUD stamped on their plates.
Hope you enjoyed the subject! I have many pictures,but currently unable to share them. Hopefully within a fw weeks i can post some! RJ
Around 1967,i as returning from a vaca in Montreal,returning by cutting across Le'praire?,thru upstate VT.,down thru the White Mountains in N.H. Halted at a barnsale,and was looking thru a box of 1930's N.H. lic plates.
A guy a couple of yrs older than i,approached me,inquiring,about my interest in the plates. He introduce himselve as Tom Smith,vacationing from Virginia.He informd me of a club,dedicated to license plates!! Called "A.L.P.C.A" Auto License Plate Collectors Assoc. Needless to say,i became member #1554 shortly after that, by chance meeting.
You know whats next! The chase was on,i went to tow yards,junk yards,advertised in local "bargain hunter" guides.Chased all leads.Finally recieved firt edition of the ALPCA newsletter,and a complete roster of all members. I wanted every year of every state!(dope) I wrote letters to every member.Letters to every Datsun dlr,why not,i was a Partsmanager at a Datsun dlr? Got a lot of response from both. Still did not have a plate,fro m every state!
Finally I set goals! First,a plate from all 50 states.Second a plate for every year of the original 13 colonies! Third,a plate for every year of every state! Hell,i was only 17 or so!!
Finally I acheived the first goal,Wisconsin was the last of the 50,i needed.Got it from a friends brother who was a trucker. Now to work on that second goal!
Back then you could write to any member,ask for certain years from his home state,and swap the same from your state! It wasn't a big money thing YET.Alot of friendly trading went on. It took awhile,but i finally realized i was nuts,and better specialize.By now my cellar was covered wall to wall with plates!!
I started to specialize,narrowing my collection to porcelain plates only.Meaning mostly they were from 1903 to maybe the mid twenties.Became a heavy hitter with other collectors. Some plates could reach couple hundred dollars each,depending on yr,state,condition.Met many friends thru the club.
Every year Alpca hosted a National Convention,3rd week of June.Had to book a hotel,and space,a year in advance! The first National i attended was in ENID OKLAHOMA,(Home of the first parking meter)in 1974.Drove there with a fellow collector,and very good friend,Conrad Hughson.His ALPCA # is 290 i think.He started in the 50's!
We took a 69 GTO i owned at the time.Took three days to get there,even with my lead foot! We spent a day at the ARCHWAY,and sailed on a paddlewheel on the MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI! I'll never forget it.Spent 3 days in ENID,just dealing,swapping license plates.
Attended many Nat'l meets over the years.One National was at the University of Michigan,the whole convention hall was filled with license plate collectors,for the 3 days.People from most states,Canada,and Europe attended. A couple of years later,I sold my collection,to try to save a marriage.Should of sold the EX! Oh Well!
In the early 80's,the license plate bug,BIT ME again!I had visited my buddy Conrad,in Vermont,and of course he showed me some of his collection. I remember leaving with a few porcelin plates,and a mighty thin wallet!
Within a couple of years,my LIVINGROOM walls were full of first issue's and porcelin license plates.Linda,did not like the decor,but she knew the choice,NONE!Did'nt matter anyhow,around 84 or 85,the MUSCLECAR BUG bit me,BIG TIME. Sold the 2nd plate collection for a hefty $um.
Alittle license plate trivia:: First State to issue a number,you made the base,leather,shingle,or painted #'s on the veh,1901 or 1902.(i forget)? NEW YORK! First State to issue a license plate? TAXACHUSETTS in 1903,starting with #1 In 1916,the numbers hit SIX digits! For Fred
TEXAS first year of issue? 1915 (if i remember correctly without cheating) Maine issued BRASS plates,supposedly scrap ammo from the war,in late 1946,alum yr tag in 47,and All BRASS in 1948. Arizona issued COPPER plates in 1932/33/34. Also in the 60's,70's,80's,their Horseless Carriage plates.(Antique Car)Massachusetts had a bit of a problem in 1928,A Codfish was stamped on all passenger plates.The problem was, the fish was "swimming' away from the State name on the plate,it was a bad year for the fishing industry,and being superstious,they blamed this issue.
In 1929,the State "made good" by only stamping the Codfish on Commercial/truck plates,and made the Cod "swim" back towards the state name! This plate is really scarce,because of limited truck production,versus passenger producton. Idaho,in the early 40's i believe,had a large SPUD stamped on their plates.
Hope you enjoyed the subject! I have many pictures,but currently unable to share them. Hopefully within a fw weeks i can post some!
RJ
