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Massachusetts Archive - Part 1
TOTAL KNOWN PORCELAIN VARIETIES: 84
I: PRE-STATES / CITY & COUNTY PLATES
Due to Massachusetts' remarkably early issuance of license plates in 1903, there
are no pre-states that exist from the state. However, there are a remarkably large
number of cities in Massachusetts that issued porcelain license plates. In fact,
there were as many porcelain producing jurisdictions in Massachusetts as in all of
the rest of New England combined. These plates stretch out over a period of
seventeen years and were used to license everything from automobiles and
buses to milk carts, jobbers and vegetable peddlers. Although there are an
amazing 46 different porcelain varieties known, each is remarkably scarce with no
more than a handful of surviving examples of any particular plate.
CLINTON
The Town of Clinton was a thriving community built on milling and textile
manufacturing with a population of over 3,000 people when it was incorporated in
1850. Straddling the valley of the south branch of the Nashua River in central
Massachusetts, Clinton is the site of the Wachusett Reservoir, formed by
damming the river in 1905 to provide drinking water for the City of Boston. This
engineering feat brought further prosperity and prominence to the town. For
years, it was thought that porcelain license plates were only issued in Clinton in
1914-15 and 1915-16, but in 2008 a previously unknown 1916-17 version surfaced.
Clinton porcelains were issued in three varieties - Licensed Peddler, Licensed
Jobber and Milk License. The Peddler plates are by far the most common with
perhaps a half-dozen of each of the first two years known in collectors' hands.
They are known to have been produced in pairs, and numbers range up to about
75 in 1914-15 and 100 in 1915-16. The Milk and Jobber plates, on the other hand,
are rare, with only two of each class known in collections to document their
existence. The Milk and Jobber porcelains are manufactured in exactly the same
format as the Peddler plates, except that they were produced on a smaller sized
base and expired in June instead of May. It should be pointed out that the Jobber
plates are the only known porcelain license plates of any kind to bear that
distinctive terminology.
DEDHAM
The city of Dedham is the county seat of Norfolk County just south of Boston.
Dedham was a small town of around 10,000 inhabitants in 1920, the time at which
the only license plate known from the city is thought to have been issued. This
undated plate is in an unusual format with a single slot hole at top center. It is
unclear what type of vehicle it adorned.
FALL RIVER
Located in the historic Southcoast region of Massachusetts, Fall River was first
settled in 1670 and incorporated in 1803. By the turn of the century, the growing
city was an important manufacturing center. In fact, from the 1870s until the
1920s, Fall River was the second largest center in the United States for the
manufacture of cotton textiles behind only Manchester, New Hampshire. In 1920,
the city's population peaked at over 120,000. It was during this period of growth
that the city licensed Motor Buses with small porcelain plates. It is unclear just
how many years these plates existed, but there are two surviving examples of a
white and blue 1921-22 issue. These little plates are the smallest known
porcelains to have been issued anywhere in Massachusetts.
HOLYOKE
Situated on the banks of the Connecticut River, Holyoke had few inhabitants until
the construction of a dam and the Holyoke Canal System in the mid-19th century,
and the subsequent construction of water-powered mills, particularly paper mills.
At one point, the city boasted more than 25 paper mills, and the population
exploded from fewer than 5,000 in 1885 to over 60,000 in 1920. It was at some
point during this growth - probably the '20s - that Holyoke began to license
Vegetable Peddlers with porcelain license plates. These undated plates are
virtually unknown and it is not clear if they were produced for more than one year.
SPRINGFIELD
Springfield is a very old city, first settled in 1636 on the floodplains of the
Connecticut River in Southwestern Massachusetts. In the 19th century,
Springfield was a prosperous manufacturing center noted for its Victorian
mansions. In 1893, the Duryea brothers of Springfield built the first commercial
gasoline powered automobile. Indian motorcycles were produced in the city as
well starting in 1901 and continuing for a half-century. And from 1921 to 1931 a
Rolls-Royce factory in Springfield built nearly 3,000 Silver Ghosts and Phantoms
before production was halted by the Great Depression. Considering the city's
history with early transportation, it is perhaps not surprising that porcelains would
have been produced there. In fact, Springfield is known for a run of porcelain
plates that stretched at least 13 years, from 1915-16 through 1927-28 - although no
plates from 1918-19 or 1924-25 have yet surfaced. Even numbered years were
white on blue and odd numbered years were the reverse - blue on white. Oddly
enough, the first issue is the most common, with a half-dozen or so known
1915-16 plates ranging up to nearly #1,000. Something must have changed
beginning in 1916-17, for the remainder of the Springfield porcelains have
substantially lower numbers and are much rarer - many of them unique. Although
the 1915-16 plates reached at least #939, not one of the subsequent years of
Springfield porcelains is known with a number over #291.
In addition to the more familiar Springfield porcelains described above, there is
one example of a Vegetable Peddler plate from the city. This plate is undated, but
based on the other city-issued porcelains from Massachusetts, it seems fair to
presume that this plate dates from the '20s or early '30s.
WORCESTER
Located in central Massachusetts, Worcester had a colorful history in the nation's
early period. It was a munitions depot during the Revolutionary War and later the
site of the first woman executed in the new American republic. Furthermore,
known for innovation in commerce, industry, education, and social thought,
Worcester can claim a historic role as the birthplace of the American Industrial
Revolution. The city remained an important industrial and commercial center into
the 20th century when license plates were first making their appearance.
Worcester actually began the issuance of porcelains quite early compared to
other Massachusetts cities known to have issued plates. In fact, its first year of
issuance was 1913-14 - making this plate the earliest known locally-issued
porcelain license plate from the state. These distinctive and attractive diamond
shaped porcelain license plates complete with borders and fancy numerals are
highly sought after by collectors.
These plates came in pairs and were issued annually from 1913-14 all the way
through at least 1929-30 before the city switched to embossed metal issues. In
fact, Worcester's 17-year run of porcelains marks it as a city with one of the
longest running runs of porcelain license plates ever. In fact, only the 25 year run
of Milk Licenses thought to hail from the city of Rochester, NY were issued over a
longer span of time. Like the Springfield plates, not all years are known to exist - I
have never seen a 1919-20 or 1921-22. Numbers in most years appear to have
neared the #1,000 mark, and the most common year seems to be 1917-18 - of
which I am familiar with five documented examples.
Simultaneous with the issuance of the diamond shaped passenger porcelains,
Worcester also issued a separate set of rectangular plates to the city's Hawkers &
Peddlers. Like the passenger issues, Hawker & Peddler plates came in pairs.
Thus, from the first issue in 1913-14, and presumably all the way through the end
of the city's 17-year porcelain run in 1929-30, collectors are faced with the
challenge of acquiring two different plates for each year! The Hawker & Peddler
plates are substantially rarer than the passenger plates, with numbers rarely
surpassing two digits. The highest numbered Hawker & Peddler plate I've seen is
#242.
I: PRE-STATES / CITY & COUNTY PLATES
Due to Massachusetts' remarkably early issuance of license plates in 1903, there
are no pre-states that exist from the state. However, there are a remarkably large
number of cities in Massachusetts that issued porcelain license plates. In fact,
there were as many porcelain producing jurisdictions in Massachusetts as in all of
the rest of New England combined. These plates stretch out over a period of
seventeen years and were used to license everything from automobiles and
buses to milk carts, jobbers and vegetable peddlers. Although there are an
amazing 46 different porcelain varieties known, each is remarkably scarce with no
more than a handful of surviving examples of any particular plate.
CLINTON
The Town of Clinton was a thriving community built on milling and textile
manufacturing with a population of over 3,000 people when it was incorporated in
1850. Straddling the valley of the south branch of the Nashua River in central
Massachusetts, Clinton is the site of the Wachusett Reservoir, formed by
damming the river in 1905 to provide drinking water for the City of Boston. This
engineering feat brought further prosperity and prominence to the town. For
years, it was thought that porcelain license plates were only issued in Clinton in
1914-15 and 1915-16, but in 2008 a previously unknown 1916-17 version surfaced.
Clinton porcelains were issued in three varieties - Licensed Peddler, Licensed
Jobber and Milk License. The Peddler plates are by far the most common with
perhaps a half-dozen of each of the first two years known in collectors' hands.
They are known to have been produced in pairs, and numbers range up to about
75 in 1914-15 and 100 in 1915-16. The Milk and Jobber plates, on the other hand,
are rare, with only two of each class known in collections to document their
existence. The Milk and Jobber porcelains are manufactured in exactly the same
format as the Peddler plates, except that they were produced on a smaller sized
base and expired in June instead of May. It should be pointed out that the Jobber
plates are the only known porcelain license plates of any kind to bear that
distinctive terminology.
DEDHAM
The city of Dedham is the county seat of Norfolk County just south of Boston.
Dedham was a small town of around 10,000 inhabitants in 1920, the time at which
the only license plate known from the city is thought to have been issued. This
undated plate is in an unusual format with a single slot hole at top center. It is
unclear what type of vehicle it adorned.
FALL RIVER
Located in the historic Southcoast region of Massachusetts, Fall River was first
settled in 1670 and incorporated in 1803. By the turn of the century, the growing
city was an important manufacturing center. In fact, from the 1870s until the
1920s, Fall River was the second largest center in the United States for the
manufacture of cotton textiles behind only Manchester, New Hampshire. In 1920,
the city's population peaked at over 120,000. It was during this period of growth
that the city licensed Motor Buses with small porcelain plates. It is unclear just
how many years these plates existed, but there are two surviving examples of a
white and blue 1921-22 issue. These little plates are the smallest known
porcelains to have been issued anywhere in Massachusetts.
HOLYOKE
Situated on the banks of the Connecticut River, Holyoke had few inhabitants until
the construction of a dam and the Holyoke Canal System in the mid-19th century,
and the subsequent construction of water-powered mills, particularly paper mills.
At one point, the city boasted more than 25 paper mills, and the population
exploded from fewer than 5,000 in 1885 to over 60,000 in 1920. It was at some
point during this growth - probably the '20s - that Holyoke began to license
Vegetable Peddlers with porcelain license plates. These undated plates are
virtually unknown and it is not clear if they were produced for more than one year.
SPRINGFIELD
Springfield is a very old city, first settled in 1636 on the floodplains of the
Connecticut River in Southwestern Massachusetts. In the 19th century,
Springfield was a prosperous manufacturing center noted for its Victorian
mansions. In 1893, the Duryea brothers of Springfield built the first commercial
gasoline powered automobile. Indian motorcycles were produced in the city as
well starting in 1901 and continuing for a half-century. And from 1921 to 1931 a
Rolls-Royce factory in Springfield built nearly 3,000 Silver Ghosts and Phantoms
before production was halted by the Great Depression. Considering the city's
history with early transportation, it is perhaps not surprising that porcelains would
have been produced there. In fact, Springfield is known for a run of porcelain
plates that stretched at least 13 years, from 1915-16 through 1927-28 - although no
plates from 1918-19 or 1924-25 have yet surfaced. Even numbered years were
white on blue and odd numbered years were the reverse - blue on white. Oddly
enough, the first issue is the most common, with a half-dozen or so known
1915-16 plates ranging up to nearly #1,000. Something must have changed
beginning in 1916-17, for the remainder of the Springfield porcelains have
substantially lower numbers and are much rarer - many of them unique. Although
the 1915-16 plates reached at least #939, not one of the subsequent years of
Springfield porcelains is known with a number over #291.
In addition to the more familiar Springfield porcelains described above, there is
one example of a Vegetable Peddler plate from the city. This plate is undated, but
based on the other city-issued porcelains from Massachusetts, it seems fair to
presume that this plate dates from the '20s or early '30s.
WORCESTER
Located in central Massachusetts, Worcester had a colorful history in the nation's
early period. It was a munitions depot during the Revolutionary War and later the
site of the first woman executed in the new American republic. Furthermore,
known for innovation in commerce, industry, education, and social thought,
Worcester can claim a historic role as the birthplace of the American Industrial
Revolution. The city remained an important industrial and commercial center into
the 20th century when license plates were first making their appearance.
Worcester actually began the issuance of porcelains quite early compared to
other Massachusetts cities known to have issued plates. In fact, its first year of
issuance was 1913-14 - making this plate the earliest known locally-issued
porcelain license plate from the state. These distinctive and attractive diamond
shaped porcelain license plates complete with borders and fancy numerals are
highly sought after by collectors.
These plates came in pairs and were issued annually from 1913-14 all the way
through at least 1929-30 before the city switched to embossed metal issues. In
fact, Worcester's 17-year run of porcelains marks it as a city with one of the
longest running runs of porcelain license plates ever. In fact, only the 25 year run
of Milk Licenses thought to hail from the city of Rochester, NY were issued over a
longer span of time. Like the Springfield plates, not all years are known to exist - I
have never seen a 1919-20 or 1921-22. Numbers in most years appear to have
neared the #1,000 mark, and the most common year seems to be 1917-18 - of
which I am familiar with five documented examples.
Simultaneous with the issuance of the diamond shaped passenger porcelains,
Worcester also issued a separate set of rectangular plates to the city's Hawkers &
Peddlers. Like the passenger issues, Hawker & Peddler plates came in pairs.
Thus, from the first issue in 1913-14, and presumably all the way through the end
of the city's 17-year porcelain run in 1929-30, collectors are faced with the
challenge of acquiring two different plates for each year! The Hawker & Peddler
plates are substantially rarer than the passenger plates, with numbers rarely
surpassing two digits. The highest numbered Hawker & Peddler plate I've seen is
#242.
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Due to the size of the Massachusetts archive, I have split it into two parts. Part 2 contains information on the following: II: STATE-ISSUED PASSENGER PLATES III: STATE-ISSUED NON-PASSENGER PLATES IV: ODDBALL PORCELAINS FURTHER READING CLICK HERE FOR PART 2 OF THE MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVE |
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There is circumstantial evidence that a run of milk plates from 1911 through 1928 (like the one above) are from Fall River as well, but until proof of this surfaces, these plates are listed in the unknown archive HERE. |
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| At some undetermined point between 1930-31 and 1933-34, Worcester's long run of porcelain license plates gave way to embossed metal versions |
