CONNECTICUT

Although Connecticut was an early automobile manufacturing center, with both the Columbia Electric and Locomobile being made here starting in 1899, no city ordinances regulating automobiles are known.  The possibility of any being passed is further limited by the rather early passage of the state's first automobile law in May 1901.

1901 Chapter 69, passed May 21, 1901, did not contain any registration provision as did neighboring New York, but did specify statewide speed limits of 12 MPH within cities and 15 MPH elsewhere for motor vehicles.  Section 4 specifically prohibited cities or towns from passing any ordinances "in respect to motor vehicles", particularly regarding speed limits.  City and town officials could grant permits to allow higher speeds in certain cases.

The first registration law was 1903 Chapter 107, passed May 15, 1903.  While the law was effective immediately, registration did not become mandatory until July 1, 1903.  The law required owners of all motor vehicles, including motorcycles, to register with the Secretary of State, pay a one-time fee of $1, and display their certificate number on an owner-provided rear plate in 3-inch-tall numbers along with a "C" prefix in the same size, representing the initial letter of the state name.  Registration began with #C1 on May 23, 1903.  Dealers and manufacturers were specifically exempted unless their vehicles were used for "private business".  Non-residents were also exempted as long as they displayed their registration number and state initial.  1903 Chapter 108, also passed on May 15, 1903, merely restated the 1901 speed limit law with very minor revisions.

The highest pre-state plate known is #C3228, although prominent pre-state plate collector Stephen J. Raiche has reported seeing numbers over #C3600.  According to the original ledger book at the Connecticut State Library in Hartford, these are the numbers issued by calendar year and the totals for each year:

      1903      C1 - C1353   (1,353)

      1904   C1354 - C2529   (1,176)

      1905   C2530 - C3559   (1,030)   (as of 8/31/05?)

The first state-issued plates were the result of 1905 Chapter 230, passed July 13, 1905, effective two days later, which repealed both 1903 acts.  This law required owners to register with the Secretary of State and pay a $1 fee as before, but automobiles were now required to display pairs of undated white-on-black state-issued plates, while motorcycles were to display a single owner-provided plate with 1-inch-tall numbers and "C" initial.  Enforcement was to begin on August 1, 1905.

One interesting deviation from the 1903 law was that each owner now received only one certificate regardless of how many vehicles he owned, and plates with the same number were to be used on all of the vehicles, which resulted in multiple pairs of the same number!  In Section 5, the new law states that the Secretary of State "shall furnish from time to time, at cost price, to any person registered under the provisions of this act, as many plates or markers as may be required by such person for display upon the one or more motor vehicles, except motor bicycles, owned by him at the time of such registration, or thereafter acquired..."  An article in "The Horseless Age" on August 23, 1905, states that:  "The law calls for two tags on each car...and the State will furnish them at cost, namely, $1 per set."

The new plates resembled pre-state plates in many respects, primarily because no state name or smaller abbreviation was used other than the full-sized script "C".  Another interesting aspect of this series is that the front plate has, in addition to corner holes, two slots for leather straps to mount to the front axle, while the rear plate has only the four corner holes.  Thus, each pair looks mismatched!  Only plates made in 1909 above approximately #C9000 have slots on both plates of the pair.

It is believed that all previous (1903-05) owners had to register anew under this act.  Perhaps credit was given for the $1 fee previously paid, and only the additional $1 plate fee was charged.  Registration statistics from the state, presented below, indicate that numbers started over again, with #C3538 not being reached until August 1, 1906.  Further evidence supporting this theory consists of the production date codes on the backs of surviving plates.  If new plates had automatically been issued to all previous registrants, then all numbers up to about #C3600 would have been made and distributed in August 1905.  While the earliest date codes known are indeed "85", indicating a manufacture date of August 1905, they are only found on plate numbers up to about #C1800, half of what is expected.  Successive batches of plates were apparently ordered every month or two after that, with the 3,000 mark not being reached until June 1906.  Obviously, a person who had previously held a number above #C3000 could not have used this same number from August 1905 through May 1906.  A person could only have kept the same number if that number was below #C1800 or so.

Motorcycles were now numbered in a series of their own starting at #C01, using owner-provided single plates.  The law made no mention of dealers or manufacturers, so it is assumed that they were exempted as before, except vehicles employed in private use.  Non-residents were allowed 15 days "in any one year" in the state before having to register.

Legislators must have realized that two weeks would not be enough time to manufacture and distribute new license plates for every automobile in the state.  1905 Chapter 258 was passed on July 19, 1905, effective immediately, repealing the August 1 enforcement deadline and extending it to September 1, 1905.  The catch was that vehicles still had to display certificate numbers as required under the 1903 law, meaning that if a new car were purchased for the first time during this period, a new pre-state number would have to be assigned.  It is possible that new pre-state registrations were even issued after some of the earliest state-issued plates had come out.  Also on July 19, 1905, Chapter 282 was passed to clarify the language regarding how plates were to be fastened to the vehicle so as to not swing.

A new law, 1907 Chapter 221, passed July 27, 1907, and effective August 26, 1907, made several sweeping changes to motor vehicle registration, repealing all three 1905 acts.  Motor vehicle owners were now required to register annually with the Secretary of State and pay an annual registration fee, as well as obtain an operators license annually for a $2 fee (or 50c for motorcycles).  The registrations and operators licenses were to expire one year from the date of issue.  The same undated plates first issued in 1905 continued to be used and issued, and the same number would be reissued upon renewal.  Owners having multiple cars with plates bearing the same number now had to obtain new numbers for all except one.  Motorcycle plates were still owner-provided as before.  Registration fees were $3, $5 or $10 depending upon horsepower, 50c for motorcycles, $10 for dealers and $100 for manufacturers.

Dealers and manufacturers were now registered under general distinguishing numbers.  Dealer plates were black-on-white, the reverse of regular plates, and appear to have been first issued in November 1907, judging by the fact that all earliest plates have a Baltimore Enamel production code of "117" on the back.  Dealer numbers began at #C100D.  Manufacturer plates are unknown as to color.  Two period photos showing front plates #C202M and #C205M have light numbers on a dark background, but in both cases, the background doesn't appear dark enough to be black.  Perhaps red, green or blue was used.  No plates survive today to verify their colors.  Manufacturer numbers began at #C200M.

According to the last sentence of Section 3, the clause relating to the registration of dealers and manufacturers, "every person operating a motor vehicle registered under the provisions of this section shall display on such vehicle, in such manner as the secretary may prescribe, the operator's license number assigned to such person."  A separate porcelain plate showing this number was used on the rear only.  We know of one such example, #2774 with no "C" prefix, in yellow-on-black and the same font as regular plates.  This plate has slots, indicating that it probably was issued in mid-1909.

Non-residents were exempted for "a period not to exceed ten successive days at any one time" as long as they were registered in their home state and displayed a plate with their number and state initial.

Enforcement of re-registration by owners was to begin on September 1, 1907.  All owners who re-registered prior to that date were reassigned the same number and allowed to continue using their 1905-07 plates.  Numbers that were not renewed became dormant and were reissued to new registrants from the spring of 1908 through the spring of 1909, starting with the lowest numbers first.  The re-issue plates are usually on longer-size bases than the originals, and have the digits more widely spaced apart.  They also have later date codes on the back, ranging from "38" to "39".  The highest known re-issued number is #C5387, which fits well with a New York Times report that 5,388 registrations had been issued under the 1905 law from July 1905 to August 1907.

The next state law, passed on August 10, 1909, primarily addressed how motor vehicle registration would be administered starting on January 1, 1910, but some provisions of the law actually took effect when the law became effective September 1, 1909.  The specifications of all new plates to be issued were as follows:  "Said plates...shall bear the initial letter of the state, and the figures of the registered number thereon...each digit thereof shall occupy a space not less than three and one-half inches in width."  Therefore, new plates issued after September 1 had to have the new larger digits, otherwise plates being issued wouldn't conform to the law.  Thus the rare "Block C" variety was issued, starting at about #C9500.  The highest old-style plate known is #C9487, while the "Block C" style is known from #C9535 to C9985, representing only 451 pairs.  Interestingly, no Dealer plates with block characters have been found so far, although they might have existed.  The highest known 1905/09 plates of each type are as follows:

      Passenger    #C9985

      Motorcycle    none  (#C01216 seen in period photo)

      Dealer       #C277D

      Manufacturer  none  (#C205M seen in period photo)

According to periodic directory listing booklets published by the Secretary of State, these are the numbers issued by reporting period, and the totals of each:

                              PASSENGER                     MOTORCYCLE

 9/ 1/1905 - 11/14/1905        C1 - C2155   (2,155)         C01 -  C0138   (138)

11/15/1905 -  6/23/1906     C2156 - C3241   (1,086)       C0139 -  C0367   (229)

 6/24/1906 -  8/ 1/1906     C3242 - C3538     (297)       C0368 -  C0407    (40)

 8/ 2/1906 - 11/ 1/1906     C3539 - C3907     (369)       C0408 -  C0458    (51)

11/ 2/1906 -  1/ 8/1907     C3908 - C4000      (93)       C0459 -  C0471    (13)

 1/ 9/1907 -  5/ 9/1907     C4001 - C4567     (567)       C0472 -  C0574   (103)

 5/ 9/1907 - 11/30/1907     C4568 - C6222   (1,654)       C0575 -  C0893   (319)

12/ 1/1907 -  4/ 8/1908     C6223 - C6615     (393)       C0894 -  C0976    (83)

 4/ 9/1908 -  5/20/1908     C6616 - C6996     (381)       C0977 - C01005    (29+)

 5/21/1908 - 11/14/1908     C6997 - C7631     (635+)          (none)         (0+)

11/15/1908 -  5/ 1/1909     C7632 - C7700      (69+)     C01006 - C01217   (212+)

 5/ 2/1909 - 12/31/1909     C7701 -(C9985)  (2,285)      C01218 -    ?

+in addition to an unknown quantity of re-issued numbers.

                                DEALER                     MANUFACTURER

11/ ?/1907 - 11/30/1907     C100D - C186D      (87)       C200M - C204M      (5)

12/ 1/1907 -  4/ 8/1908     C187D - C195D       (9)           (none)         (0)

 4/ 9/1908 -  5/20/1908     C196D - C199D       (4)           (none)         (0)

 5/21/1908 - 11/14/1908     C200D - C244D      (45)       C205M              (1)

11/15/1908 -  5/ 1/1909     C245D - C296D      (52)           (none)         (0)

 5/ 2/1909 - 12/31/1909     C297D -   ?                     ?

1909 Chapter 211, passed August 10, 1909, and effective September 1, 1909, repealed the 1907 law and changed annual registration to a calendar year basis, the registration year being January 1 to December 31.  The existing plates would expire on December 31, 1909, and new annual undated pairs of state-issued plates in different colors each year were to be displayed.  (Dates were not added until 1914.)  Dealer, Livery and Manufacturer plates were issued in reverse color schemes from the passenger plates of that year, and numbering on these started at #1, unlike before.  The colors of the undated 1910-13 plates are as follows:

             PASSENGER               DEALER/LIVERY/MFR.

      1910   White on Red            Red on White

      1911   Dark Blue on White      White on Dark Blue

      1912   White on Green          Green on White

      1913   White on Dark Blue      Dark Blue on White

Each automobile now had to be registered separately with a unique number, ending the multiple-pair practice followed in 1905-09.  Unlike 1905-09, plates were now to be furnished "without charge".  Motorcycles were still required to display a single owner-provided plate with 1-inch-tall figures, as before.  A Livery plate category was added for taxis and other vehicles for hire, using an "L" suffix.  The requirements regarding non-residents were left unchanged.

Fees were now as follows:  Passenger $6, $10, $15, $20 or $30 depending upon horsepower, Motorcycle $1, Commercial/Truck $5, Dealer $20, Livery $10 and Manufacturer $2 per motor being used on public roads.  The Dealer, Livery and Manufacturer fees included 6 pairs of plates; each additional pair would cost $1.  However, some of these fees were revised shortly after by 1909 Chapter 264, passed August 26, 1909, and effective September 1, 1909.  This law reset the passenger vehicle registration fees to 50c per horsepower below 25 HP and 60c per horsepower 25 HP and higher, to achieve a more graduated fee structure, and the Manufacturer fee was reduced to $1 per motor.  If the manufacturer operated fewer than 100 motors during the year, then this represented a reduction from the $100 fee previously in effect.  (Interestingly, Livery plates were reduced to one pair instead of 6 pairs starting in 1912.)

A printed insert found in an original copy of the 1909 law outlines the yellow-on-black operator's number plates which were required on Dealer-owned cars being test-driven, the description of which exactly matches plate #2774 above.  This requirement was still in effect as late as 1913, yet no examples have been found with the block-style characters belonging to plates of the 1910-13 era.

The following table shows the highest known 1910 plates by type, the highest known number from an original 1910 registration listing book, if higher, and the 1910 registration figures for each type as reported by the New York Times in 1911:

      VEHICLE TYPE   HIGHEST KNOWN   LISTING BOOK   REGISTRATIONS

      Passenger        #C11320         #C10000         10,500

      Motorcycle          none         #C02155          1,360

      Dealer            #C314D          #C300D            325

      Livery             #C13L           #C15L             18

      Manufacturer        none            #C9M             11

Motorcycles did not display state-issued plates until 1912.  1911 Chapter 85, passed June 6, 1911, and effective January 1, 1912, provided for pairs of annual state-issued motorcycle plates, the 1912 and 1913 issues of which are undated but in the same colors as passenger plates.  The highest known 1912 motorcycle plate is #C2392.  Motorcycle Dealer and Motorcycle Manufacturer plates also began in 1912, presumably in reverse colors of the passenger plates, but none of either type is known until 1913.