Tag plates...

The collection used to be much larger but friends and children all wanted 'one for the wall'.  I was given most of the collection by junk yard owners for a few dollars on each visit, some were swapped for UK car books at a convention in St Louis.  I recall an 'antique shop' near Winchester, Virginia that was absolutely crammed floor to ceiling with vintage number plates and the outside of this wooden warehouse had them pinned all over.  The owner's collecting had become an obsession!  I got to talk to him, a chap well into his 70's and poor fellow was obviously not a well person.  The neighbours had complained to the council about the mess of his place and they'd closed him down.  The doors were padlocked, windows were taped over with Police Do not Enter signs and he'd been banned from selling anything.  I often wonder what happened to him.