History Of US License Plates: 10 Fascinating Facts

2. Which country issued the first license plate?

France authorized the first vehicle license plate in the world through the Paris Ordinance of 1893.

However, the first car license plates were created in Germany 3 years later. And the Netherlands was the first nation to require a national license plate. By 1901, all French vehicles displayed license plates.

3. When were vehicle license plates introduced in the US?

The first license plates in the United States began to appear in 1901. But it was a pretty casual affair, as you will read below.

4. What was the first state to introduce license plates in the US?

In 1901, New York Governor Benjamin Odell Jr. created an order directing all vehicle owners to make license plates and place them on the back of their vehicles. Since manufacturing license plates weren’t a thing yet, owners handmade the plates out of whatever material was at hand, or visited the local leather shop.

This resulted in license plates in all kinds of materials such as wood, leather, and metal.

Some owners skipped the whole affair and simply painted the required letters on their vehicle. As you might imagine, the need for a standardized plate quickly became apparent. And in 1909, New York was the first U.S. state to require official, standardized license plates.

5. What information was required on the first license plates?

The information required on the license plates varied by place.

For example, when New York first required license plates in 1901, the only necessary information on the plate was the vehicle owner’s initials.

Kim Kardashian’s plate would’ve read, “KK.” We could be wrong but we’re guessing she would’ve been into this.

Massachusetts issued its official plates in 1903. They were numbered in order of designation. The first person in the state to get a plate got one with a “1” printed prominently on it. The plates also displayed the state (“Mass”) and the year of issue.

Check out this photo of the first license plate issued in Massachusetts.

Source: ontheroadtrends.com

6. What year did all US states require license plates?

You could say that license plates were a hot trend because, by the year 1918, every US state required some type of vehicle license plate.

Of course, there were only 48 states in 1918. Alaska and Hawaii had yet to join the union.

Alaska’s late entry would lead to some of the rarest and most valuable plates in existence today, which we’ll discuss later in the article.

7. What are 3 of the weirdest license plate facts and trivia?

There are countless strange and delightful stories about license plates over the years. Here are 3 of the best:

• Between 1936 and 1976, Tennessee issued license plates that were cut in the exact shape of the state.
• The word “potato” was the first official license plate slogan. Idaho issued it in 1928 alongside of an embossed image of a potato.
• In more recent history, Steve Jobs was infamous for eschewing license plates. He exploited a loophole in California vehicle registration law to forego vehicle registration or tags altogether.

8. What’s the history of counterfeit license plates?

The history of counterfeit plates begins in the early 1900s when regulations began to go into effect.

Many types of people created counterfeit plates but it was especially common for the privileged, wealthy classes to hire someone to create a fictitious plate number and put it on a plate.

In Chicago, counterfeit plates became such a problem that the city began to issue registration numbers for tags. The city even chose a font style specifically because it couldn’t be found in local hardware stores.

9. When and where did the first vanity license plates appear?

The first vanity plates in the United States originated in Pennsylvania in 1931. Drivers were given the option of “adding” their initials to the plates but nothing else.

Over time, these first vanity plates evolved into the wide assortment of vanity plates we see today.

Here’s a list of 30 of the funniest vanity plates on the road https://www.boredpanda.com/funny-license-plates/.

10. What are the rarest license plates?

With all of this history, you can imagine how rare and valuable some license plates are to collectors and historians.

3 of the rarest license plates in existence are:

1) The Mysterious North Korean “Yellow” License Plate

A “yellow” North Korean license plate is extremely valuable for a couple of reasons. Not many people own vehicles in the communist nation and the color yellow indicates private ownership.

In addition, because North Korea is so isolated, any government-issued license plate is difficult to obtain and therefore rare. It’s unknown how many yellow plates are in existence.

2) The Vatican City Pope Plate

Vatican City issues modern popes with their very own license plates. These are dubbed “popemobile plates” because they’re meant for placement on all official pope vehicles.

There are currently only 5 in existence because they’ve been issued to the last 5 popes. Four are displayed in museums and 1 is actively being used by Pope Francis.

3) The 1921 Alaska License Plates

When Alaska joined the union, it began issuing its first license plates. These plates are extremely valuable to collectors because there are only 4 in existence and they are valuable commemorations of this pivotal point in American history.

Learn more about the rarest license plates in the world here https://rarest.org/stuff/license-plates.

Who knew that license plate history was so interesting? We hope you enjoyed this tour of license plate history in the U.S. and beyond!