License plates (or registration plates) have been around for vehicles for over 100 years. Like most things, they started out being used in only some places with limited effectiveness, and over the years they became standardized and a part of every vehicle on the road.
Here are 10 interesting facts about license plates over the years.
- France was the first country to introduce a ‘registration plate’ in 1893 with the passage of the Paris Police Ordinance.
- The Netherlands was the first country to introduce a nationally registered license plate in 1898.
- New York was the first US state to require automobiles to have license plates in 1901. These plates were made by the individual owners and were only required to have the owner’s initials clearly visible on the back of the vehicle.
- Massachusetts became the first state to issue license plates beginning in 1903. These plates were numbered numerically starting with 1.
- The earliest license plates were made of porcelain baked onto iron or were ceramic with no backing. This made them extremely fragile and easy to break.
- A potato was the first graphic on a license plate in 1928 in the state of Iowa.
- Many people collect license plates and rare vintage plates in good condition can sell for thousands of dollars.
- Standardization of license plate size happened in 1957 when automobile manufacturers got together with governments and standards organizations. Before this, the size of license plates varied between jurisdictions (and in some cases within the same jurisdiction).
- In 1979 a man in California got personalized plates for his car that read ‘NO PLATE’. Over the next several months he received over 2,500 notices of citations as he was receiving unpaid citations for any car that was designated as having ‘no plate’.
- During World War II some plates were made from soybean-based fiberboard to conserve metal usage which was needed for war efforts.