ANTIQUE PORCELAIN LICENSE PLATE MASSACHUSETTS

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Nice porcelain license platePorcelain on steelVery good condition Makers mark on back see pics Posted with eBay Mobile In the earliest days of motoring, automobile ownership was a mark of distinction and wealth. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, automobiles were largely still a flight of fancy obsessed over by entrepreneurs and scientists, but they quickly became a reality. By the turn of the century, commercially manufactured vehicles were now available, but they remained a luxury item that few could afford. Bought by the adventurous gentry, automobiles were more for sport than transportation. The infrastructure was not yet set up, roads remained unpaved, and industries set up to service and repair vehicles were in their infancy. In these early years, vehicles were a part of an owner’s very identity, and everyone in town knew who owned which cars. However, the motoring elite quickly developed a reputation nationwide for recklessness and disregard for the safety of others. Newspapers in the first decade of the 20th century were filled with reports of injuries and deaths caused by speeding drivers. Horses were spooked, riders were thrown, and pedestrians were run down - and the drivers usually got away with it. The idea of placing license plates on cars grew from this brewing resentment towards the "automobilists," as they were known. Cities and states across the country were soon passing laws regulating the speed of automobiles, the equipment they were required to carry, the roads they were and weren't allowed to use, etc. And to ensure that these new laws were not ignored - cars began to be licensed and "tagged." Of course, finicky vehicle owners were not at all pleased with the crusade against them and their "devil wagons" as the press frequently labeled automobiles. Placing a license number on a car was thought to be a disfigurement - a lowbrow gesture which would reduce the appearance of the vehicle and make it look like a common taxi. However, as more and more automobiles filled the streets of America, it was clear that the automobilists were fighting a losing battle and their vehicles would soon be regulated, licensed, and tagged in spite of their objections. At first, the numbers placed on cars were crude, sometimes written right on the vehicle, although more commonly fashioned by the owner out of metal, leather, or wood. Department stores began to offer house numbers and leather or metal pads. The 1900s Of course, cities, counties, and states quickly realized that the automobile was here to stay and wanted a piece of the revenue, and the era of the homemade plate soon gave way to standardized official issues. This change began in New England in 1903, when Massachusetts issued its first porcelain license plates to vehicle registrants with an attractive, undated plate designed to be used for the next five years. Porcelain manufacturing for signs and kitchenware had been around since the middle of the previous century, so the application to license plates was not as much of a stretch as one might at first think. Rather than being an expensive high-class accessory befitting the motoring elite, porcelain license plates were actually a very logical choice. Effective metal stamping was still a decade away and porcelain manufacturing had been perfected and required no skilled labor. With this first Massachusetts plate, the era of the porcelain license plates had begun. That same year, the city of Philadelphia issued a dated porcelain plate – the earliest dated porcelain ever made. read more

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