Texas 1928 Annual Plate
1928–1928Texas · annual
Cream digits on a black field, split by a five-point star, with FRONT reading up the left edge and TEX and the year up the right. Texas replaced its plates every year in this era, so the year is stamped into the design itself rather than carried on a sticker: the plate was the registration, surrendered and replaced twelve months later. The colour pairing changed annually, which let an officer date a plate at a glance. The plate shown is a reconstruction carrying an invented serial, so no real registration is depicted.
A plate for one year only
Texas replaced its plates every year in this era, which is why 1928 is stamped into the design rather than carried on a sticker. The plate was the registration: it was surrendered and replaced twelve months later, and the colour pairing usually changed with it so an officer could date a plate at a glance. That is also why plates from these years are scarce, each one having been current for a single year.
Before the standard
This plate is long and shallow rather than the familiar oblong, roughly 13.4 by 5 inches. The uniform 6 by 12 inch size was settled later through the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, and until it was, plates were sized to each state's own taste. That is why one of these will not sit in a modern frame.
Stamped, not printed
Every character here is pressed into the metal and stands proud of the surface, along with the raised rim just inside the edge. Run a hand across it and you feel the whole design. The plate was struck from flat stock in a press, then the raised faces were rolled with paint, which is why wear shows first on the tops of the characters.
Sources
Reference photograph (CC BY-SA 4.0, Absecon 49). Annual issuing practice and the 1955 move to the 6x12 standard (CC BY-SA).
- Issued
- Standard issue
- The plate you received by default when you registered a vehicle.
- Serial format
- 999★999
- Material
- Embossed metal
- Source license
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- Reference
- View original