License plate Q

Ok all you old blokes ,Tell me what number plates(license plates) were like in the 50's .I'm told they were black with gold lettering,is this so?did they have the state and city on them if so what were the positions of these ?which was at the top and visa versa.Anyone photo some old plates for me i know you got some there in your garage .........Marq

 

marq, All states had different plates, many changed year to year. The best FREE education is to log on to eBay and type in "License Plate" followed by the state you'are looking for. They have a seperate section for all 50 states. Unlike the UK, plates in the states did not stay with the car for a lifetime.

 

You just described a 60's California plate. (mid) 50's CA plate was goldenrod with black letters. Every state has (had) different colors and some less populated states have (had) the county on the plate too.
Check out Carnut.com you can see different plates on some of the cars.

 

Usually had only the state, sometimes on the top or bottom and 6 numbers. Later they added letters and sometimes dashs. All 48 states at the time had different colors. And these changed, sometimes yearly. I think the Holy Grail would be the California Black and Yellow from, I think the early 50s.....OLDBEET

 

Here's the 1953 Missouri plate that I'm running on my 53.

Ebay is a good Idea, I would surf around there you should be able to find what your looking for, if not do a search on google for Vintage plates there's lots of info out there.
Mongo

 

try here:
www.alpca.org
and here:
www.pl8s.com

 

i'm looking for a 50's Alabama plate to copy the style and so on.I would prefer late 50's say 57/58/59.i need as much info i can get on these so if anyone has one in a collection they can photo.I'm stuck for colour really i can go black backing /white or silver letters,i can have a yellow backed plate with black letters.On the front i can have either black with silver letters/white or yellow back black letters.Anyone help?.............Marq

 

Marq is a big boy and he is on the internet. He can Google search for his answers

 

thats true too lazy though and i might miss sommit on here.Also i have found a site with Alabama issued plates but they are just a sample from the Alabama main license office.They range from early 40's upto now trouble is they dont have numbers so really i'm looking for plates that have been in the real world.as for google grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...............Marq

 

I save my ebay searches in my favorites and run them every couple days. It won't take long to come up with the year and state you want for a reference.

 

In the next 3 weekends we are having local shows and swapmeets if I find I will purchase for you. 55thru 59..

 

All i need is some pictures and Tommy i love you lol.Thanks pal much appreciated ..........Marq p.s although if the plates are cheap cheap i'll have them just to have them............Marq

 

Tell what years you prefer. I dont buy anything unless it is real cheap Bobby..

 

57/58/59 lol..............marq

 

Marq,
Have a look at the plates on my A sometime - I made a cast of a "States Plates" with my UK number and a cast of a 1956 Pennsylvania plate and then married the two together and cast up a couple of resin plates. Chose a PA plate'cos I had one and the colours with a bit of poetic license are as close to UK legal (for the back) as your lightly to get. They alternated between yellow background and very dark blue leters - next year was reverse colours. Though its not ben on the road long, no problems with the old bill yet.

 

I have a 1941 Florida plate on my '41 Willys...

 

Another............OLDBEET

 

cal plate described by doc.

 

States plates can do ali in what i want i was just looking at what should be on the plate historically for the year i would like to go for.Would my truck have had "truck "on the plate like some states seem to have,would there have been a validation sticker at the time? or were the plates stamped with validation and changed yearly.i have deduced an Alabama plate would have had "heart of dixie" stamped at the top ,the number and then"Alabama" at the bottom with perhaps a heart on the right hand bottom.Really i want stell if i can get it...........Marq

 

anyone gonna answer these questions like for a truck in Alabama did it have the word truck on the plate like some states also did they haqve validation stickers back then?............Marq

 

On Alabama plates the first digits 1 thru 70 stood for the county 1 Jefferson{Birmingham} 2 Mobile then 4 on were alfa series. Trucks had a Small letter H then a small number 1 or higher number after the county number this was to tell what size truck you had .It did not say truck or have any other way to tell commerical or truck. Then in the early 70.s they droped the small letter and no. so them tags were 1- 12345 or 47-54321 I hope I was not to confusing. No luck today at the Ford Mustang show only 10 or so auto parts vendors all the rest were model cars ,polish, and made in China, Tiawan things. Bobby..

 

hey k 9 if the truck was from say Birmingham where would the H and number be on the plate...........god this is so confusing and i got to say i think our system over here is far easier..........Marq

 

hey Marq,
what do you mean "States plates can do ali in what i want" is there a mob up there who will press plates with what you want on them ??? if so I might need to pay them a visit in August, I'm thinking of getting my NZ number put on a AZ plate from the 50's. lemme know if ya can.

Thx,
Paul.

 

yes there is a guy here in England that does them and practically anything you want on it.........Marq