Keith's Kolumn by Keith Marvin
Ed. Note Classic Keith from Sept '88
ANY INPUT FROM OUT THERE??? I realize that perhaps I'm whipping a dead horse on the subject of New York license plates issued for 1912 and even discussed the subject of the cardboard 1912 dealers' plates in the July issue of TAGS 'N' STUFF. However, I am in the throes of writing the history of New York State license plates and, thanks to an uncaring state motor vehicle division over the years, records for the most are non-existent. But there just might be someone among TAGS 'N' STUFF readers who can come up with an answer. There is a question and I don't have it! The 1912 undated white on vermillion porcelain plates were manufactured by the VaLance & Grosjean Company and, to my way of thinking, are just about the most handsome plates, colorwise and from the standpoint of design, which have ever surfaced anywhere. A matched pair without a chip is a very nice thing to own. New York State outdistanced all other states in motor vehicle registrations in 1912 and some 107,262 sets of plates were made for passenger car and other vehicles, numbered 1 through the end, the only exception being the manufacturers'/dealers' plates which carried an "M" prefix and those assigned to visitors who opted to exceed the relatively short period of "visiting" the state allowed and thus had to register their cars accordingly, being assigned with plates carrying a prefix of "0". Motorcycles were not registered in New York at the time. Because I want my history to be as complete as possible, I am currently tracking down 1912 New York plates with an "A" prefix. I don't know what they are. Several persons have informed me that these were issued after the series had reached 99999 in order to cut down on extending the plates' size, 15" x 6". This makes good sense and I'd like to buy the idea, except for one drawback. Extended length plates were issued and six digit 1912s are relatively well known. What, then, could the "A" plates have represented in the pattern of things? I don't know. I find it hard to believe that the state would have issued both types. Had this been done they would have been defeating their purpose. It is possible- just possible, that there is a reader who has the answer and this is why I have written this month's column as a plea for an answer- if indeed there is an answer out there somewhere. We know that commercial vehicles used the regular passenger car series, so that eliminates them as a consideration. We also know that starting in 1913, New York did indeed start using prefix letters after the magic number, 99999, had been reached. There were no extended-sized 1913 plates with six numbers. But there were in 1912. Why? And how does the "A" plate work into the picture?