1947 Washington State License Plate

1947 Washington State License Plate

Picked this up today and it's an interesting one. This was actually attached to a wire metal cart that the owner used for flea markets.

At first I thought that someone had modified the paint on this. After some research I know that this is an original plate. The plate is made of aluminum.. read on to find out more.

**I have some special plates hanging downstairs with my artwork. I figured I'd swap out one and put this in its place. Found out this plate is actually wider than the newer style plates. Had to rearrange stuff to fit.**

THE WAR IS ON!
The war was on and metal production was diverted to the war efforts. Metal was not available for new license plates, so instead they used the 1942 plates and issued window stickers for 1943 and 1944.

RARE ONES
In 1944 metal was still scarce and they only had enough to make single plates(versus pairs) for new registrations. The plates were so limited that the plates issued were all numeric and did not include any county codes. They were only issued as needed.

ALMOST BACK TO NORMAL
Finally in 1945 they were able to get rid of the old 1942 plates and window stickers. But metal was still limited and the new plates were only issued in singles.

NOT AGAIN!
in 1946 the window sticker was back with only a limited number of non-pasenger plates being issued(trailers and trucks)

NOT EVERYTHING THAT SHINES IS GOLD
With the end of the war, 1947 saw an abundance of aluminum available and many states switched from steel to a bare aluminum background plate. Within two weeks the Safety Commissioner was overwhelmed with complaints. The aluminum was blinding both at night from headlights and in the bright sun during the day. Additionally the plates had problems with the paint adhesion which resulted in many plates with bare numbers.

Despite all the major complaints, 1948 saw the return of a window sticker. Only a few limited plates were issued for non-pasenger vehicles. Because of this extended use period and the paint adhesion issues, most of the 1947 plates on the road were now bare aluminium with only traces of paint.

**I'll add a link for those that want read on about the history of the Washington state plates..**