VINTAGE LICENSE PLATES

I have a pair of very solid 1936 Texas commercial plates. They are original, no rust and very presentable. I had them on my Cord but now have a pair of restored Centenial plates.

Hi Bill,
I finally saw Jessie this weekend at the show and his picture did not turn out, I did get these from his neighbor next to him, looks like your restorer got it correctly <!-- s:lol: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_lol.gif" alt=":lol:" title="Laughing" /><!-- s:lol: -->

Time to start making those insurance payments....

Click below for youtube link, an interesting license plate tool for law enforcement.
Something that I could not imagine a few years ago.
Any comments?

67cat wrote: A yellow cream with black lettering on the ones I am going to use

Hate to gloat, but now I have confirmation that 1936 passenger TX plates are indeed dark blue on mustard yellow. See below:

That is the color of my restored plates.

There is a plate online for a 36, could this be original color?

The color swab looks like blue. The reason I like original unrestored items, is that you know what was correct proof, plus it is almost impossible to duplicate.
You have done correct research and may be able to correct an error in the state color listing. I don't have much info on the 36 plates as I use 37 restored that cost 350$. Just as soon as I found a clean set of 37's a beautiful set of original NOS became available but I had already registered the Cord with the restored plate numbers. But the colors were exactly as in my restored plates.
On the July posting of your unrestored plates they appeared original as you stated. They were a Yellow with Black letters in the posted pic. They may have darkened over the century. There were many types of 36 plates issued that I have seen commercial, Farm, Trailer and Auto. And they all had there own set of colors.
Seems like I had seen that color scheme on at least the farm plate. The plate guys will be here in March and I will do photos for you on other plates.
Its been a long time and I am not certain about anything until I see another set of originals.
It is just unusual to have stripped the plates to reveal another color under the original paint. Could that have been a primer? The dash of my Cord is the same blue black color and when I got some lacquer thinner on a spot it turned the light blue color like the stripping may have done to the originals you have.
Many questions persist. Was the blue like an India Ink color that I remember as being close to black with a depth of blue color that a lot of old car paints had? It would only show the blue in bright light.
To add more confusion to the matter I attached a picture of a commercial 1937 plate that was your original color.

For those of you outside of Texas, I am sure this is a pretty boring thread.

We've been debating whether Texas plates used black ink or dark blue ink. Well, this may just end the debate right here.

Look at the color on the paper towel when rubbed on an unrestored set of plates. Sure the ink on the plate LOOKED like it was black, but ...

the Pate swap meet (not held in Pate) is at the TX Motor Speedway this year from Apr 26 thru Apr 29.

This is a large swap meet and almost anything you are looking for is there, including license plate dealers.

Ron

I just sent in my second plate for restoration. Naturally I am concerned about this BLUE vs BLACK lettering issue. Here is what Rod just wrote to me:

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[i:3cw6ijiw]Hi Bill, the mate arrived safely today. I was in the shop working when the postman brought it me, and after opening the box, I looked the lettering color over carefully. I had to agree it sure did look black.

But today we had one of those really bright, sunny days, so I took it outside while the sun was overhead, looked it over, and am 100% positive the lettering is a dark blue. Now it's a real dark blue granted, but headed towards black.

So I called a buddy over from down the road and showed him the plate indoors and ask him what the lettering color was. He looked at me kinda strange, and said, it's black. I said, are you sure? He says yeah, I'm sure. I said let's walk outside, so we went outside and he looked real close, looked up at me and said, this is a real dark blue.

A little while ago I did a little experiment that I hadn't thought of until now. I have this chemical a friend gave me a while back called "Finesse it". I've never seen it on the shelves at auto parts stores, but he said it was rather expensive and a "little dab 'il do ya".

I've only used this stuff a couple times, and it's a mild rubbing compound. It's pure white, sorta thick like sourcream, and you can feel just a little grit in it. Not much, just a little. So I took a paper towel, dabbed a bit on the towel, and rubbed hard on the number "0" on your plate. It didn't do anything to the "0" I rubbed on, but it left residue on the towel.

I'll take a picture of the paper towel tomorrow when the sun's out bright. You won't believe it, but it's a nice shade of blue. It's not even that dark of a blue. It actually looks like the shade of blue I lettered your plate with. Now I'm not even saying I nailed the color, but you'll be amazed at how close it is. I'll shoot you a picture once I take it.

So bottom line, I'm really convinced now that the true original colors of the '36 TX plate was a dark blue. I can definitely see the questions the car guys and plate guys have over this plate. Unfortunately not many of us were around in '36 to remember the true color, and those that were around were either too young, or just can't remember.

I love talkin' plates.

Thanks,
Rod[/i:3cw6ijiw]

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Thanks Rod! I'm going with dark blue ....


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Mr. Pearman sounds like a very honorable guy. He stands behind his work.

Like Henry once said ........I will paint your car any color as long as it is black.

From Rod Pearman:

Now, about the lettering color on the '36 TX plates........from what I'm told, the dark blue turns black over time. I've seen that happen on other dark blue lettered plates.

I get my information from three sources, two of which I can give you. The main source of info comes from the ALPCA (license plate club) which has an extensive resource of information from all over the world. It's a members only section that is like the encylopedia of plate knowledge. I copied and pasted the text on what it said on the '36 TX :

1936 dark blue/light mustard yellow; 13 x 5; "TEX" vertical before last numbers; 4 to 6 digit serials;
000-000 or A00-000 serial formats; "19 CENTENNIAL 36" bottom 1, 2 & 3 digit plates had "TEX" vertical flanking the serial;

The second reference I go to often is actually a friend of mine here in the Atlanta area, who has by far, hands down, the ultimate website. You might want to add it to your favorites. Or perhaps you've seen his site. Go to www.worldlicenseplates.com

Once you're on the home page, across the top is the alphabet. Click on "T" and then on the left hand will be all the "T"'s. Click on Texas and when Texas pops up, he has pictures of all plates set up in decades. Go to 1930's and you'll see his plate and color description.

My third source is the Fox License Plate Book (a.k.a. The License Plate Bible) written by former drummer of The James Gang, and President of the ALPCA. Jim Fox says the '36 TX is dark blue on cream.

A couple years ago I did my first '36 TX and I recall the guy saying it was dark blue. Although when I got the plate the lettering was definitely black. No question. So I emailed him and asked him if he was sure of the dark blue. He said he was sure. So then I called a couple Texas bigtime plate collectors and they both assured me it was dark blue lettering.

It's not uncommon for a handful of plates around the U.S. to have discrepencies in the actual original colors. I've heard guys argue (friendly) about the '21 GA, and you'll hear 4 different color schemes on this plate. There's usually at least one plate per state that has these questionable color'd plates.

But I'll do your plate whichever you want. If you want to go with the black, send back the one I've done and I'll redo it. Absolutely no charge. But I've had 5 sources tell me the lettering was dark blue, counting the 2 guys I called a few years back.

Thanks,
Rod

A yellow cream with black lettering on the ones I am going to use, the commercial plates are black background with a yellow cream lettering.

67cat wrote: I just found a beautifully restored 36 Texas car plates for my Cord.

OK, so what color are yours?

I have used Jesse. I got plates for my 34 Auburn from him. I have a set of very solid matching Texas commercial plates I am not going to be using. I just found a beautifully restored 36 Texas car plates for my Cord.

Hi Bill, I scoured the library for a phone number for the leading authority on Texas license plates, his name is Jesse Perez from San Antonio. Whatever he advises is scripture, this is a 5 year old telephone # but it still may work, I will be seeing some more restorers at the Conroe show in March, please call Jesse at 210.532.7456, he is a very friendly person.

My restoration guy says DARK BLUE on cream yellow.

My research says the same .....

Someone slipped in there research. It is common knowledge among the plate restorers the 36 is black letters on yellow, (it looks orange as in the original plate) and the 37's were ivory letters on a black background.
When you apply for a title they inspect the plates and they must not be altered, they overlook the restored, but technically a plate should not be painted.
Any Texas DPS would immediately see the incorrect blue lettering. They look like 1930 which is l-blue letters on yellow background. Maybe he was thinking L-29 Cord.

I just got my first license plate back from the restorer. Took about 10 weeks.



The letters are now dark blue. They were black when I got the plates. So someone did not do their research when they tried to restore them years ago.

A fellow named ROD PEARMAN did this one. I am sending my second one to him now.

Think that a centennial, worlds fair or unique plate will always bring a premium. I never saw a '36 Texas pair and they sure are nice! Those plates will really jazz up your car.

Maybe next year ACD can start judging best installed unrestored & restored license plates as a special subcatagory, so that more people can get recognition; Special style points awarded for state mottos, color combination harmony with original factory colors, or documented rarity.

Now you need a '36 Texas official state roadmap on the front seat. There's a couple good collector websites out there, what with all the petromania collecting going on.

Before someone asks me to embarrass myself and confess how much I paid for both my plates, here is what you get for $20 on eBay.

Here's a 1936 single plate going for $20.00

Found some ... Pretty good condition too. They should be on the car by Auburn 2004.

They were no where near the $20 to $30 estimates that I saw on this website. However, I will be saving $40.00 per year on vanity plates, a few years down the road I will break even.

Bob,

I'd say John is about right on the prices. Some plates had 5 characters some had 6. On the sixes, sometimes the first one is a letter, sometimes its a number. I'm sure there is a reason, but I don't know it. I have a good single '32 I'd let you have for $10.00, if you needed it.

Mike & John,

Guess I should take a look at the e-Bay stuff to see what is going on the block these days. What is the reason that there were two different length plates? Different because of location in the state or some other obscure reason? Know that the Ohio plates used to be letters first for half the state and letters to the right for the other half, but with the huge increase in cars doubt that still works in 2004.

Mike, what is your experience as far as what it takes $ wise to acquire a decent single early 30's Ohio plate from the swap meets?

I have bought 3 different sets of plates from Ebay Motors. Go to Ebay.com then ebay motors, then define it to license plates, Texas, 19?? and you will get what you want to bid on in a couple weeks or less. Cost will vary with the condition of the plates but should be $10 to $30 plus SH.

Bob,

My plates are all '32. I did see a decent set of '31s a couple of weeks ago at a swap. They come in long and short versions. I may have one of each. I'll send a pic shortly.

Should I keep a lookout for you?

Mike

Mike,

Are the 2-1/2 sets of Ohio plates that you have of 1932 vintage?

I would like to have at least one 1931 Ohio plate for my Auburn, as that is where it was first sold. Okla only uses one plate, so could mount the second one when out of state or not on the road in-state. Could you e-mail a pic of one of your '32 plates to give me an idea of what that era Ohio plate looked like? Guess it is Swap meets, e-Bay, etc for me as well.

Thanks, Bob

Bill,

You will have to enter the wonderful world of swap meets. Either that or try Hemmings. There are dealers that specialize in old plates, and even a few places that restore them. It would be a real find to locate a set good enough to put on the car with only a bit of polishing. I have 2-1/2 sets (Ohio still uses 2 plates) for my Auburn, but none quite good enough to use as is.

As to the "El Cord" interpretation: the 'great unwashed' may see it that way, but most of the folks you associate with will know better.

Good luck in your search.

Mike

I am looking for a 1936 Texas license plate that is in very good or better condition.

Does anyone have a good source for these?

Texas has a Year of Manufacture law that lets me put an old plate on my Cord 810.

I figured this would be better than a vanity plate which is my second choice.

I was thinking about putting E L CORD on my plate but down here in Texas, it would probalby be misinterpreted as "El Cord" :rolleyes:

Those of you who were thinking I should be looking for a 1970 plate should be ashamed of yourselves! <!-- s:lol: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_lol.gif" alt=":lol:" title="Laughing" /><!-- s:lol: -->