Not EXACTLY hot rod related, but it’s about old cars… I got the 1929 tags for my model A… They came with a “Knoxville” tag- also dated 1929. Does anyone know about the history of these? I’m making the assumption that the city issued tags as well then (imagine the government trying to find additional income streams!), but am not sure… I have never seen one.
Have you checked with the Knoxville Historical Society or maybe one of the license plate collector organizations https://www.alpca.org/?
...I think you're on the right track. I believe many cities/ municipalities forced people to purchase these especially if they commuted into said cities. Like you mentioned, just another income stream.
My city still requires vehicle registration each year, which buys a decal that must be posted on lower right of windshield.
That shows that he paid his city taxes on the car for the year. Back in 1968 when I got home from Vietnam and picked up the 69 Cutlass S that I had special ordered the plates cost me 67 bucks in Washington. August 69 I went back to Texas and married a gal I had met in Texas and moved there in the process (Fort Hood Boy) come time to tag the car I thought I had cut a fat hog because plates in Texas were 15.00 because it just barely made it under the 3500 lb weight break. Then come first of the year and I get a proprty tax bill from the county for 20 dollars on the car, A few days later I got one for about 15 dollars from the city of McGregor. and not long after that I got one for another 12 bucks or so from the McGregor school district. In Washington every outfit got a cut of the excise tax I paid the state and that was it. As far as the Knoxville plate, I'd think that might be cool if you live in Knoxville or if you just like Knoxville but not a necessity. I've read this through about three times and still can't make sense of it.
Knoxville is the closest major city to me- So I might just have to restore this plate and use it, too.... The local county clerk office is pretty good about antique registrations- MOST of the people know how to handle it. The wording is a bit confusing, but I've had no problems eventually getting things worked out. I just registered this plate to my model A yesterday and it went well... I think that the state is more worried about collecting their $32 than anything else
The vintage Knoxville plate is interesting. 1818 is not the year it’s the tag number. I thought this may be some type of commemorative plate but it is a city issued tag. These were made at least through the 1950s. For what? I wonder. My first thought is a parking tag. I suppose it’s possible that those in the city limits of Knoxville also had to get a city tag. I still lean to a parking tag. You’ll see city parking stickers on windshields. My ‘64 Fairlane has a Chicago sticker from 1966. It is interesting. If you had the tag maybe you did not have to feed the meter. Another thought was city vehicles. I doubt the City of Knoxville had 1,818 city vehicles in 1929. Other tags are way up into the thousands. So, city vehicle tags are out....
The Chicago window decal is a city tax and vehicle registration. It gets you no privileges other than clear passage on city streets.
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