Bozeman

Bozeman, originally uploaded by William 74.

Like most car guys (and gals), I have a little bit of a thing for old license plates. I don't have a huge collection, but I do have a few oldies kicking around the house. Back in the day, of course, most states issued a new plate every year, and it would be a different color-you often find people who have lived in the same house for decades who have collections of all their old plates stuck to the garage walls.

A lot of people just like to have an old license plate from the year they were born and the state they're from-they're a neat sort of conversation piece. Many people with old cars like to get an age appropriate plate for their collector piece, and I have to admit that a plate from 1953 makes a nice finishing touch to your Kaiser Manhattan. Some plates are iconic, like the California "black plate" that is so revered in the collector car world, and others, like the 1950's Tennessee plates that are shaped like the state, just look neat.

This one's on the back of a Simplex motorcycle that I photographed at a shop that specializes in petroliana. It's from Montana, and is interesting in that it states that it's specifically for the city of Bozeman.

I tried to give this that faux-LOMO look, which I am now calling "Lomaux".