License plate toppers and attachments made their appearance early in the automobile industry, and became especially popular in the 1920s as a means to identify one’s hometown or political opinions. But during Washington state’s brief experiment in 1954 to forgo front license plates, a new cottage industry thrived for a short while, selling unofficial booster license plates for use on the front of cars.
Several local companies produced license plates to promote Washington state. Three main series, Washington The Evergreen State, Keep Washington Green, and Eat Washington Apples, were all sold in relatively high quantities and served somewhat as unofficial front Washington plates. Factory-made front plates with personalized messages were also available for unofficial use.
Washington the Evergreen State
“The Evergreen State” wouldn’t make its way onto Washington license plates until 1998, but early in 1954 Tacoma’s Viking Industries began producing an attractive license plate with the state nickname, flanked by twin evergreen trees.
Well-made and quite official-looking, they sold well and survive in fairly high numbers today. Versions exist in aluminum (as specified in the February 1954 ad shown here) as well as steel, with dimensions almost exactly matching Washington’s standard license plates manufactured before the Walla Walla Penitentiary Fire (shorter horizontally by 1/8″).
Also notable is the embossed copyright (C) symbol on the right-hand side, which was joined by a stamping on the reverse reading “Copyright 1954 Viking Ind. Tacoma.”
These were widely sold at auto supply stores, and were pictured frequently in classified ads for companies such as Vancouver Auto Supply, B&M Drugs, Macy Barner’s Gift Shop, with prices ranging from $0.97 to $1.00 each.
Local clubs and organizations also took advantage of what must have been a decent demand for front license plates and organized sales drives as fundraisers.
Keep Washington Green
The “Keep Washington Green” movement was born in 1941 as a public awareness and education program to prevent forest fires. It was so successful that it spread like, um, wildfire: by 1954, forty-two other states had adopted similar “Keep our state Green” programs.
Supporters of the movement had advocated for the phrase’s inclusion on Washington license plates for several years. One attempt in 1948 was opposed by the governor, but in the summer 1949 there was still (ultimately fruitless) optimism that the slogan may be added in future years. While “Keep Washington Green” license plate toppers had been available since the late 1940s, (with Oregon’s counterpart available south of the Columbia), inclusion on an official license plate had only been successful in one state: Florida, which used the phrase “Keep Florida Green” on its 1951 license plate issue.
The Keep Washington Green movement was especially active in the early 1950s, displaying highway signs all over the state encouraging the use of ash trays for fire prevention, and promoting a widespread poster campaign with the same plea. With front bumpers empty in 1954, proponents of the phrase on the state’s license plates finally had their chance to (unofficially) add it with their own booster license plate.
These plates became available in the early summer of 1954. Made of aluminum, in the exact dimensions of the 1954 license plates made by the Screw Machine Company after the Walla Walla Penitentiary fire, they had a striking design featuring an evergreen tree and an outline of Washington state. Motorists could obtain one with a $1.00 donation to the Keep Washington Green Association, headquartered at the University of Washington.
Eat Washington Apples
Despite many attempts in the twentieth century, Washington State’s most famous agricultural product never made onto official license plate issues (until the Washington Apple Commission optional design debuted in 2019). The Manson Kiwanis Club rectified the oversight in 1954 by creating its own front plate design.
“Because Washington State issued only one license plate this year, the state’s most widely known product is receiving some additional promotion,” the Seattle Post-Intelligencer stated on August 18, 1954. “Capitalizing on the fact that no license plates are available for the front ends of Washington cars, Kiwanis Club members from Manson, Chelan County, are distributing license-sized plates promoting Washington apples.”
Bold, striking colors and two shiny examples of the state’s finest produce flanked the demand to “Eat Washington Apples.”
Personalized Front License Plates
It would be another two decades before personalized license plates were offered by the Department of Licensing, but in 1954 it was possible to have a custom-made phrase or lettering on the front of one’s car.
The Screw Machine Products Company of Portland, Oregon was busy producing all of Washington’s official license plates in 1954. A small addition to that business was its production of front license plates with custom stampings. These were the same size and colors as the official rear 1954 license plates the company was producing for Washington, and used the same stamping dies.
The main design difference was the centering of “WASHINGTON” and the lack of a stamped “54” date (although some examples are known to exist with the standard bottom layout shared with standard-issue official license plates).
While in no way tied to the registration of a vehicle, and thus completely unofficial, these were as close as one could possibly get to a personalized license plate in 1954.
Examples are known with initials, first names, names of towns and cities, and names of businesses.
These four examples cover the most common “state-wide” front booster license plates. Many other types exist specific to cities, towns, and civic organizations, but The Evergreen State, Keep Washington Green, Eat Washington Apples, and personalized variations of the standard issue all serve as unofficial Washington state designs.
Their heyday was brief. By the end of 1954 the Department of Licensing had reverted to the previous practice of issuing license plates in pairs and was shipping out new front license plates for every vehicle in the state, putting an end to the custom front license plate industry.
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