By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO–If you’re looking for reverence to God, you might find it on the license plate on the car parked next to you. “In God We Trust” and “God Bless America” are popular slogans which motorists may choose on state-issued license plates.
American states issue a wide variety of license plates allowing drivers to advertise their devotion to a cause, respect for the military and for veterans, affiliation with a group, love for the environment, and hope for a cure for cancer and other diseases. Additionally, nearly every state has license plates with a slogan or motto by which it wants to be known.
The seemingly endless variety of license plates has made collecting digital images of them an interesting pursuit, akin to stamp collecting. One could seek to obtain a wide variety of license plates –for example, one or more from every state in the United States, or country in the world — or one could specialize in license plates devoted to causes, or perhaps to those picturing animals.
State slogans are among my favorite kinds of license plates to collect because they have much to teach us. For example, Delaware was the first state to ratify the Constitution, so it calls itself “The First State.” Connecticut suggested the compromise that prevented the Constitutional Convention from ending in acrimonious failure in the debate between states with large populations and small populations. Its representatives suggested a bicameral legislature so both small states could protect their interests in the Senate while large states could be dominant in the House of Representatives.
Similarly, I enjoy license plates that commemorate special anniversaries in the states’ history. Maryland in 2012 marked the bicentennial of the War of 1812, during which Sir Francis Scott Key was inspired to compose “The Star Spangled Banner.” And that same year, New Mexico commemorated its statehood centennial.
And how can one not enjoy the scenic views, or artistic representations of those views, that one may find by visiting the state in question? The farmland of Indiana, the famed presidential sculptures at Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, are just two examples.
The kinds of license plate collections one may engage in — for the price of a digital camera — are many. And you don’t have to gather them all by yourself. Whenever friends or relatives with cameras happen to see an interesting license plate, they can snap a photo and send it to you as an email attachment, thereby expanding your collection. You can also use email to trade images with other collectors.
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Harrison, editor of San Diego Jewish World, thanks Bob Lauritzen and Harry Jacobson-Beyer for contributing images to this article. Harrison may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com