A closer look
Massachusetts issued the first state-mandated automobile license plates in the United States back in 1903, but the government did not actually manufacture them, forcing drivers to make their own out of iron, wood, or even fragile porcelain. the absolute chaos of this honor system meant early motorists were essentially doing arts and crafts projects just to legally drive their noisy motorized buggies down the street. unsurprisingly, a porcelain plate bolted to a rudimentary car with zero suspension driving over unpaved, pothole-ridden dirt roads resulted in the tags constantly shattering into a million pieces. number one was issued to Frederick Tudor, and a member of his family still holds that exact registration today, effectively turning a bureaucratic government tracking number into a highly coveted heirloom. we went from literally painting our own numbers on a piece of scrap wood to being relentlessly tracked by automated toll booth cameras to send us thirty dollar fines
