Pennsylvania, among many other states, kept track of vehicle owner and operator information early in the 20th century. I started searching for these historic publications at state agencies and quickly realized that much of the information is in private collections, divided among libraries, or otherwise lost to time. I had to decide early on in my research process how I’d like to focus my study. I chose to seek out the registration covering Pennsylvania’s “porcelain years” – the years that the state of PA issued passenger license plates made in porcelain enamel. PA’s first statewide issue was in 1906, and the last in 1915. I learned that Pennsylvania issued the registration information on a monthly basis, in the form of a booklet that detailed the registration number, the owners name, address, and town. I am still on the hunt for several full years of registrations, and other assorted months. I’ll detail below what I currently have – and if you have information or know where I can find it, please contact me! I aim to photograph all registration numbers and registrants from 1906 through 1915, and would like to make that info publicly available – so that collectors could easily find the history of their license plates!
Devlin's Collections 