California License Plates

I grew up in California and saw many, many license plates on cars, starting long before I could drive. In 1990, at age 24-25, I began noting down my observations about the colors, designs, characters, and standard patterns on California's license plates in a very short file called PLATES.LIC. You can get a good idea of when a car was made — or at least, when it was registered with the California DMV — by its license plate.

The webpages below contain descriptions of California license plates throughout history, as observed through the years by Roger M. Wilcox.

• The Dark Ages (pre-1963)
• The Black License Plate Era (1963-1969)
• The Blue License Plate Era (1969-1986)
• The California Sunset ("Golden State") License Plate Era (1982-1987)
• The White with California in Block Printing License Plate Era (1987-1993)
• The White with California in Cursive Handwriting License Plate Era (1993?-date)
• Black Nostalgia License Plates (2015-date)
• Scenic (Yosemite/Tahoe/Whale Tail) License Plates (1993-date)
• Other Special Interest License Plates (1994-date)
• Occupational License Plates

Send comments about this webpage to: rogermw@ix.netcom.com.

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