License plates really register with Boulder Hill man

To most of us, license plates are just something the state requires us to display on any vehicle we drive on Illinois roads. And they must be renewed through the purchase of a sticker every year.

But to Boulder Hill resident George Balsamo, they mean much more – to the point that he has a license place collection of more 5,000 from Illinois and across the country.

One of his first collections was a birth set – a set of all Illinois plates issued in 1956, the year he was born. They are issued for more than 100 different categories of vehicles.

Balsamo became interested in license plates as a kid from looking at the plates on cars during vacations. When in high school, he got his first license plate – from the school bus his mother drove. And that was the beginning of a hobby that has become a big part of his life since.

One of his favorite finds was made in an antique shop during a family trip to Springfield about 25 years ago. It was an Illinois sesquicentennial logo license plate.

“They have an 18 in each corner for the 1818 sesquicentennial in 1968,” he said.

Ask Balsamo any question about license plates and their history, and he most likely has the answer on the tip of his tongue. But if not, he can find it in a short time from among his volumes of printed materials about the hobby.

In Illinois, cities were first to register vehicles, he said – Joliet in 1903, Elgin in 1904, and Aurora on April 16, 1906. Each city registered about 150 vehicles in their first year, he said, adding that the price of an Aurora plate in 1906 was $1.

When Illinois first began issuing state license plates in July of 1907, they were just for cars and rated by horsepower – gasoline, steam and electric. Motorcycle plates were next, being issued in 1911, Balsamo said.

Dealer plates were issued in 1912, trucks in 1920, trailers in 1924, and all other categories followed such as buses, taxis, limos, ambulances, trucks by weight and various others. Illinois now issues plates in more than 100 categories.

By 1916, Illinois was issuing more than 1 million every year, he said.

The price of Illinois plates when first issued was $1 per year for a car, compared to more than $100 today for a sticker, depending on the vehicle.

When Illinois began issuing plates, the state prohibited cities from also doing so. But two years later, the law was changed allowing cities to license vehicles owned by their residents. But as cities grew and the number of vehicles increased, it became too difficult to keep track of them, so cities stopped issuing city licenses.

Balsamo said New York was the first state to have a vehicle registration law. No plates were issued, but the state issued registration papers and a round disc that could be displayed inside the windshield.

Illinois license plates have been made of a variety of materials, from poor-quality metal that often rusted before the year was up, to aluminum, which is used today. During the war years, when metal was needed for the military, plates were made of fiberboard, Balsamo said.

The metal material was not always good. In 1935, the Illinois plates were so bad, they rusted off the bumpers, he said.

“And in 2004 the plates were deteriorating so badly, the state replaced them at no cost. They then changed to aluminum,” he said.

Illinois plates, other than their color, were the same design from 1911 through 1978, so new ones were issued each year.

To save money, the state went to a permanent plate in 1979, and issued a new sticker of a different color for the plate each year. The design on the plates has changed only a few times since then. It was not necessary to purchase a new set unless the old ones were rusting through, Balsamo said.

In 2001, the image of President Abraham Lincoln was added to the plates.

The latest series was released in 2016. Balsamo said it was designed by a department staff member who also designed brochures and posters for the state. The design shows only half of Lincoln’s face on the left side of the plate and he is looking off the plate.

“Opinions on this design have been mixed since it was released,” Balsamo said. “To me it looks like he is walking away from Illinois heading for a bar in Lake Geneva,” he said.

This design also includes Chicago’s Willis Tower and hidden behind the plate number is a windmill, barn and the top of the state Capitol.

He said state officials would like to replace all of these plates, but the cost has been estimated to be $66 million – money the state does not have.

“We often hear that our license plates are made by inmates of our prisons. But this lasted only two years because the plates were inferior,” he said.

The job was returned to private companies until 1983, when the work was given to a sheltered workshop for people with disabilities in Decatur, he said.

Illinois plates have included the “Land of Lincoln” slogan since 1954, at the suggestion of Charles Carpenteir, then Illinois Secretary of State.

Over the years, Illinois plates also have commemorated universities, and Illinois companies such as the John Deere Co.

Balsamo also collects legislative plates.

“When Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar dedicated the new bridge in Oswego, I got his autograph and a governor plate from him. But it was from 1990, which was from the end of Gov. Jim Thompson’s term,” he said.

He also has one from former 14th District U.S. Congressman Dennis Hastert of Plano, during his first term.

And he has a plate that had been issued to Charlotte T. Reid of Aurora when she served in the U.S. Congress in the 14th District. “It was listed on Ebay by an Englishman. I paid $50 for it,” he said.

He also has an unusual inverted truck plate. These plates were made with two printings – one for the plate number and one for the legend and border. He found his on Ebay and paid $25 for it.

Balsamo and other license plate collectors keep up to date on their hobby through the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association and their monthly magazine. The association has about 2,800 members, he said.