MANITOBA

Winnipeg appears to have been issuing "automobile numbers" as early as 1906, and it is possible other cities had similar ordinances prior to the first provincial registration law of 1908 although none are known.

The first provincial law to provide for motor vehicle registration was 8 Edward VII, Chapter 34, passed on February 26, 1908.  This law required all owners of motor vehicles to register with the Municipal Commissioner, pay an annual fee, and display front and rear owner-provided plates in black and white with 4-inch-tall numbers.  1-inch-tall headlight numbers were also required.  In addition, the Commissioner issued an undated metal disc which was to be displayed on the vehicle.  Registration became mandatory 30 days after the date the law took effect, and appears to have started April 1, 1908.

The initial fee was $5, with renewals set at $2.  Each registration expired on the first day of the month following the first anniversary of issue.  (For example, a registration issued April 15, 1908, would expire May 1, 1909.)  Any number could be reissued if not renewed.  Local ordinances regarding registration of motor vehicles were now prohibited by this law.

Non-residents were allowed 30 days before having to register.  Motor vehicles under the control of Dealers, Manufacturers or Livery owners could be registered under a general distinguishing number for $25, entitling them to 5 discs with the same number.  Additional seals were also available for $5 each.  The renewal fee was also $25.

The highest disc known is #171 and the highest pre-provincial plate known is #647.  The following registration figures are from the Report of the Automobile License Department:

                            NEW REGS.   RENEWALS   DEALERS   MOTORCYCLES

      4/1/1908 - 4/1/1909       418          0         0           0

      4/1/1909 - 4/1/1910       410        298        10           0

      4/1/1910 - 4/1/1911     1,660          0        32          55

According to the Waterville (Maine) Morning Sentinel on June 27, 1911, "The highest license number reached in the Province during 1910 was 1690, and this included all the dealers' demonstrating cars, motor cycles, etc.  This year a change was made in the issue of licenses by their division into four separate classes...Motor cycles were given a distinct set of numbers, and about 120 licenses have been issued for this handy little machine..."

A new law, 1 George V, Chapter 28, was passed on March 24, 1911, requiring annual province-issued pairs of plates.  A dated oval aluminum seal was issued in March 1911, with plates arriving in June 1911.  A matching set of plates and disc #1663 is known.  A Manitoba Free Press news article on April 15, 1911, describes four registration categories:  Private Owner, Delivery Car and Taxi, Motorcycle and Dealer.  Fees were $3, $5 or $6 for motor vehicles, $2 for motorcycles, $5 or $10 for livery vehicles and $25 for dealers.  Additional plates needed by dealers and livery companies were $1 each.  The registration year continued to be April 1 to March 31.

The following table lists the registration figures for 1911, as well as known 1911 plate numbers:

                   REGISTERED   KNOWN PLATES

      Passenger       2,436     #1 - 1999, 3000 - 3122   (2,122)

      Dealer/Livery             #2000 - 2590               (591)

      Dealer             73

      Dealer (Extra)    244

      Livery            306

      Livery (Extra)    338

      Motorcycle        264     (see below)

      M/C Dealer          9     (see below)

The second group of passenger plates, those in the 3000 series, have two side holes added, an unusual feature not seen on any other Manitoba plates.

Assuming that each Dealer license, Livery license, and extra Dealer or Livery plate issued received a plate in the 2000 series, we would expect 961 to have been assigned.  It is unknown whether Motorcycle Dealers were issued full-size Dealer plates, or received whatever motorcycles were assigned, be it discs, plates or both.

A major controversy has emerged regarding certain 1911 plates, resulting in a multi-faceted mystery.  First of all, were any 1911 motorcycle plates issued by the province other than the seals, and if so, what did they look like?  Secondly, were the "L" series plates, described below, issued for Livery vehicles, motorcycles, or an as-yet-unidentified type?

1911 CONTROVERSY PART 1 - WHAT DID MOTORCYCLES USE?

A prominent Manitoba collector, Ross Metcalfe, owns his grandfather's 1911 automobile seal #52.  When he went to the province's original registration list to look up what type of vehicle his grandfather had, he found not only his grandfather's entry, but also another registration, #52, assigned to a motorcycle.  Ross has seven photos of motorcycles, taken in 1911, none of which display plates.  Several show the small seals, however, with one (#102) up close enough to see that it is identical to the passenger ones.  Therefore, up to about #264, it would be impossible to determine if a given seal was passenger or motorcycle.

One photo is of the Reliability Tour, snapped in front of the Winnipeg Free Press building, which had to have taken place in the summer of 1911.  Many of the motorcycles had discs, but none bore plates, even though all other vehicles would have been fully plated by this time.  Another photo, dated 1912, shows the full fleet of the City of Winnipeg's police department motorcycles, all five of them!  No discs are visible, but all display small temporary-looking undated dark-on-light front plates bearing numbers between 65 and 70.  The registration listing for 1911 agrees with this number assignment.  It has been reported that the 1912 motorcycle plates were not issued until May 1912, in which case, the city probably continued to use the 1911 numbers into early 1912.  The main arguments in support of the theory that motorcycles were not issued plates in 1911 are as follows:

   1. Motorcycles belonging to law enforcement agencies would have been the most likely to

      comply with laws requiring plates.  If police vehicles didn't have province-issued

      plates, who else would have bothered?

   2. The police department went to the expense of providing their own plates for their

      motorcycles.  They would not have needed to do this if the province had issued

      plates that year.

Arguments against the no-1911-plate theory are as follows:

   1. The photo, having been taken in 1912, shows what could have been 1912 temporary

      plates, rather than plates representing the 1911 registration period.  This would be

      even more plausible if the police department had been issued the same license

      numbers in 1912 as they had been assigned in 1911.  A check of the 1912 registration

      records, if they still exist, would shed some light on this point.

   2. The backs of the motorcycles are not visible in the photo.  It is possible that

      province-issued plates were issued only for the rear, and that the police department

      took it upon itself to further identify its vehicles by fashioning front plates with

      matching numbers.

Fact having no bearing either way on the argument:

   1. Discs are not visible on the machines.  They may have been mounted on the back, or

      they may have been removed after the 1911 year ended.

1911 CONTROVERSY PART 2 - THE "L" PLATES

Four unusual 1911 plates are known, #5, 155, 419 and 960, in white on black instead of the usual white on dark blue, all of which have a small half-size "L" suffix.  They are the same large size as the regular plates.  Evidence in support of these being the missing motorcycle plates include the following points:

   1. The above-mentioned April 15, 1911, news article states that "Motor cycles were

      given a distinct set of numbers with the letter L preceding the numerals so as to

      readily distinguish them in the license list from the cars."

   2. In 1912-14, no other non-passenger plate types exist other than motorcycle, so why

      would 1911 be any different?

   3. The Winnipeg police department may have been allowed to substitute their own plates

      for the provincial ones, if they were too large or cumbersome to mount correctly.

Points of doubt about the black "L" plates being motorcycle plates are as follows:

   1. The plates are too large for motorcycles.

   2. "L" is an illogical letter for motorcycle plates.

   3. The plates have an "L" suffix, not prefix as described in the news article.

   4. The news article discussing the preceding of the motorcycle numbers with the letter

      L could be referring to how they were written on the actual registration list,

      rather than how the plates were designed; however, the original list Ross consulted

      apparently did not contain any "L" next to the numbers in the motorcycle listing.

   5. Some jurisdictions in that era, including Chicago, Colorado and Kansas, issued

      "Lost" plates, which essentially were duplicate plates made up as replacements for

      lost or missing tags.  The "L" code, different colors and higher numbers could

      signify such a substitute.

   6. Another theory is that "L" plates were issued to licensed operators who would drive

      a vehicle other than one owned by them.  Similar cases involving demonstrating cars

      existed in Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Points having no specific bearing either way on what the "L" plate is:

   1. Plates #419 and #960 are too high for 264 motorcycle registrations, and also too

      high for 338 livery registrations.  We have no explanation for the wide range

      between #5 and #960 unless they represent the same number as that being replaced

      with a "lost" tag.  (If that were the case, "L" plates could appear with numbers as

      high as #1999, as well as #3000 - 3122.)  It seems implausible that 960 out of the

      2,436 owners that year lost their plates.

   2. The plates have a black background, not blue.

Small 1912 motorcycle plates were issued in pairs, with the highest known plate being #424.  They were made in the same colors as passenger plates, and had no letter prefix or suffix.