World Number Plate News – The History of Illinois Number Plates

1907
12,000 passenger cars are registered with the Illinois Secretary of
State’s office. The Motor Vehicle Act, requiring motorists to register with the
Secretary of State’s office, becomes law. For a one-time $2 fee
per vehicle, a motorist receives a circular aluminum seal with a
registration number to affix to the vehicle, known as a dashboard
disc. It is the motorist’s responsibility to furnish license plates.
From July 1, 1907, to June 30, 1909, Illinois registers 20,224
automobiles.

Sidney S. Gorham of LaGrange is issued license plate number 1,
and Henry W. Austin of Oak Park is issued license plate number 2.
To satisfy the demand for low numbers, plates with one letter and
a number up to 20 are issued. Numbers A1 and A2 are issued to
Robert D. Clarke of Peoria.

1908
18,500 passenger cars are registered with the Illinois Secretary of
State’s office. Due to the 1907 Motor Vehicle Act, all m9orotists must file a
description of a vehicle with the Secretary of State within ten days
after ownership of the vehicle. The information includes vehicle
make, factory number, style and engine power. The information is
stored in a wheel book. The first ten years of the wheel book,
except 1911, are currently housed in the illinois document collection
of the Illinois State Library.

1909
25,000 passenger cars are registered with the Illinois Secretary of
State’s office. The one-time vehicle registration fee is changed to an annual fee.
An aluminum seal is issued annually. Motorists are required to
provide license plates for their vehicles.
Vehicles are re-registered. The numbers assigned are only
numeric.

1910
27,500 passenger cars are registered with the Illinois Secretary of
State’s office.
The 47th Illinois General Assembly appropriates $35,000 for the
purchase and sale of automobile plates and aluminum seals. An
additional $5,000 is appropriated for the salary and expenses
required to implement the chaffeur law, including the purchase of
approximatedly 15,000 chauffeur badges. An Automobile Department,
consisting of four employees, is
established within the office of the Secretary of State.
1911
38,269 passenger vehicles are registered with the Illinois Secretary
of State’s office.
The Secretary of State’s office creates an Automobile Department,
which registers the state’s 38,269 vehicles and collects
$105,344 in fees.
The General Assembly directs the Secretary of State to supply
and deliver two numbered license plates for each vehicle and one
numbered plate for each licensed motor bicycle. The plates are
to change color combinations every year and the abbreviated
name “ILL” is to appear on the plates.
Aluminum seals continue to be issued. The number matches that
of the plates. Sidney S. Gorham of LaGrange is issued license plate number 1,
and Henry W. Austin of Oak Park is issued license plate number
2. They had also been issued these numbers in 1907.
For the first time, motorcycles are required
to be registered. The Illinois Chauffeur Law is amended to require mechanics and
chauffeurs to pay a $5 registration fee and a $3 annual fee to
drive. Chauffeurs are issued a paper driver’s license consisting of
personal information about the driver and his picture. The license
matches each year’s license plate color.

1912
68,000 passenger vehicles are registered with the Illinois Secretary
of State’s office. The front Illinois license plate is perforated, much like a screen, so
air can flow through it and cool the car’s radiator. The rear plate
is solid. For the first time, dealer license plates are issued.
Records for the number of plates made in 1912 have not been
found.

1913
94,600 passenger vehicles are registered with the Illinois Secretary
of State’s office. The front plate in 1913 is unique. It has no background and is
white. The areas around the numbers are cut out and held in
place by a steel border. The rear plate has white letters on a
blue background. This is the only time when the front and rear
plates are two different colors. Greenduck Co. of Chicago, “Metalcrafters in Metal,” receives a
contract to make the first 70,000 passenger plates. Printed on the
back of the rear plates are instructions for mounting the plate and
the manufacturer’s name. In May, a second contract is awarded to the S. G. Adams Stamp
and Badge Company of St. Louis. It makes plates beginning with
number 70,001. The specifications are the same, “except to be of
superior materials and workmanship.” The cost is 45 cents per
set of plates. This is the first contract of its kind that has been
located, although license plates have been made since 1911.

1914
131,100 passenger vehicles are registered with the Illinois Secretary
of State’s office. It is thought that six-digit plates would be too large. After 99,999 is
passed, plates with H, K, P, and R prefixes are issued.
Dealer license plates have DEALER as a prefix.
Front plates have slots between the numerals, while rear plates
do not. License plates have these features through 1918.
S. G. Adams Stamp and Badge Company of St. Louis, Missouri
receives a contract to manufacture all the registration materials.
The unit prices are: automobile and dealer plates, 40 cents per
set; motorcycle plates, 12 cents; aluminum seals (dashboard
discs), 5 cents; chauffeur badges, 20 cents.

1915
180,800 passenger vehicles are registered with the Illinois Secretary
of State’s office.
Plates have no more than five characters. After 99,999, passenger
plates are issued with prefix letters H, K, P, R, T, U, X, Y, and Z.
S.G. Adams Company of St. Louis again receives the contract for
making Illinois license plates. However, shortly before the 1915
plates are due to go on sale, an inventory of the delivered plates
reveals that 92,550 automobile and 15,000 motorcycle plates
have been painted the wrong colors. The Secretary of State’s
office renegotiates the contract with S. G. Adams and all the
plates provided by S. G. Adams, both repainted and new, are sold
to the state for 25 cents per set, down from the original order of
34 cents per set.
Illinois registers more automobiles than Germany, France,
Canada and Russia combined.
Illinois is one of only seven states to register more than 100,000
vehicles.

1916
248,400 passenger vehicles are registered with the Illinois Secretary
of State’s office.
All passenger plates have numbers only. Six-digit plates appear
for the first time.
Charles W. Shonk Co. of Maywood, Illinois receives the contract
for the production of license plates. The company charges 16
cents per set. License plates for 1917 and 1918 are also made by
the company.

1917
340,300 passenger vehicles are registered with the Illinois Secretary
of State’s office.
This is the last year the state issues aluminum registration disks.
The disks were first issued in 1907, but the state now prefers to
use license plates as the means to register vehicles.

1918
389,700 passenger vehicles are registered with the Illinois Secretary
of State’s office.
The last front license plate with slots is made for the state. Front
plates had been made in this manner to allow airflow into the
engine to cool a vehicle’s radiator vehicles.
Illinois voters approve the first bond issue ($60 million) for the
construction of a statewide system of hard roads.

1919
478,400 passenger vehicles are registered with the Illinois Secretary
of State’s office.
The General Assembly votes to divide vehicles into first and
second-class divisions, effective in 1920. First-division vehicles
are defined as those used for carrying not more than seven
people. Second-division vehicles are defined as those used for
pulling or carrying freight or carrying more than seven people.
Grimm Stamp and Badge Co. of St. Louis, Missouri makes the
license plates.

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