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After the end of WWII, teenagers, trying to find their individualism,
made their cars into hot rods, low-riders and high-riders. They put
chrome on everything that would hold it, and painted everything that
was paintable - often with florescent colors, and otherwise extended
their efforts to make their car their "own." Many people hung a pair
of oversized dice from their mirror in an effort to show
independence. Some displayed logos of their school or club. Then came
the bumper sticker. The bumper sticker was first held on with wires
and probably said, "Buy War Bonds." After the war, the stickers
actually began to stick. Probably due to our need to "do (or say) our
own thing." Nearly every car now has a message; some subtle, some
clever, and some down-right obnoxious.
In 1901, Connecticut passed laws regulating the registration and
speed of motor vehicles. That same year, New York state required
"that every vehicle shall have the separate initials of the owner's
name placed upon the back thereof in a conspicuous place." That was
fine when there were only 954 cars involved, but when registrations
increased, the variety of lettering and location of the initials was
so great that the state amended the decree and required that assigned
registration numbers be shown on plates or leather pads. The state
collected a $1.00 fee and assigned the owner a number. He had to buy
brass numerals, bolt them to a strip of leather, and attach his
homemade tag to his car. In 1903, Massachusetts issued the first
official state-made license plates, heavy porcelain-enameled white on
dark blue tags. Other states followed suit with variations of metal,
leather, wooden shingles, sheet metal and some do-it-yourself styles.
The first state driver's license laws were passed by Rhode Island in
1908 and then New Hampshire in 1909.
When the states took over the production of license plates, they used
their prison population for the actual work - rehabilitating their
inmates for a position for which there was no job on the outside.
In 1937, Connecticut offered the first "vanity tags." Other states,
seeing an opportunity to get more money for no more service, followed
suit. They soon found that personalized license plates could become a
giant problem. Just a few letters, chosen by some clever motorist,
could produce an embarrassing sentiment to the issuing office. After
a few incidents, they hired staff to carefully review each request so
that it would not reflect badly on the state. It is now prestigious
to buy a license plate or "Vanity tag" in order to display a personal
message. These, as the car itself once was, are symbols of status.
Losing tags to a thief is not unusual. Authorities report that these
prestige license plates are being stolen in increasing numbers. To
make matters worse, motorists are discovering that it doesn't pay to
be too smart. The more clever and creative a tag is, the more apt it
is to be stolen. On the other hand, the owner may derive some
pleasure and comfort from this implied salute to his creativity.
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