WAR: Wayne Anthony Ross' interesting license plates

photo from the now-defunct and much-missed Insurgent49

On March 26th, 2009, Governor Sarah Palin appointed Wayne Anthony Ross to be the Attorney General for Alaska. The print version and the original version of the ADN article yesterday refers to Ross' personalized license plate:

Wayne Anthony Ross, a gun rights advocate who blazes around town in a red Hummer with the personalized tag WAR, will step into the position vacated last month by Talis Colberg.

The clever initials-as-actual-word usage is clever and eye-catching - especially on a Hummer.

But for license plate geeks, what's interesting here is that this plate has gone through a number of incarnations. Ross has had the same plate for so long (apparently, for at least 35 years) that he has a number of bases to choose from - and he does. In the photo above, he's running a 1974 vanity:



A year later, I just happened to run across Ross' vehicle at random, and in the intervening time, he had put on his 1976 plate (the red-on-white clearly identifies is as the 'standing bear' vintage, sans bear):



Most folks would never notice - but the plate people appreciate seeing a little bit of history on the road!

Alaskan Veterans cemetary approved by State Senate

Commemorative veterans' license plates will be part of the funding of an Alaskan Veterans Cemetary. The State House and State Senate are working on similar bills - more details to follow.

Via the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Alaska HB116 - Iditarod Registration Plates

The Alaska bill to create Iditarod finisher license plates is back up for consideration as HB116.


AS 28.10.181 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:

(y) Special request Iditarod race finisher plates. Upon application by the owner of a motor vehicle, the department may design and issue Iditarod race finisher registration plates to a person who has finished the Iditarod race. The owner shall supply written proof, verified by the Iditarod Trail Committee, that the owner has successfully finished the race. The department may disapprove the issuance of registration plates under this subsection when the requested plates are a duplication of an existing registration.


Here is a very early prototype:



... and here is a revised prototype (probably to improve legibility of the number):



The artwork may end up being different from the prototypes. This will be determined later in the approval process.

The dog in this prototype is Fred Agree's dog, Blackie.

If you could put any artwork or theme you wanted on you license plates, what would it be?

Video of Alaskan Plates

This honestly never occurred to me.

Metacafe user Steveg7esd has posted a video of some Alaskan vanity plates.



The soundtrack is especially entertaining.

This takes our illnesshobby to a whole new level!

Plate of the Week: 1940 Sample

I've only got five photos of these in the archive; I'm not sure how many survived the metal recycling efforts of World War II.



From the collection of Pete Madsen. Thanks, Pete!

Fred Meyer kid cart with plate on the back

I get a kick out of seeing pseudo-plates on everyday artifacts.



A little hard to make out in this dark photo, but you get the idea.

I tried to fit into the cart and have somebody take my picture, but security had to carry me away. :-)

Earl's Plates

As you may have read earlier, the 2008 Alaska license plate meet is in honor of Earl Jenson.

If you have more than a few Alaskas, chances are that you have at least one or two plates that look like this:


Like some other collectors with a long view of plate collecting, Earl wrote his ALPCA member number (#355) on the backs of his plates with a Sharpie. It's a fascinating little calling card. I knew that I had a couple of Earl's plates, but I had no idea that I had eight until I sifted through my boxes this evening.

Even if you can't come to the meet this year, take a moment to flip through your Alaskas, and if you find some of Earl's plates, take a quick picture of yourself holding them up, and send them to me so that we can display them at the meet.