Sunday, November 11, 2012

LEFT INSIDE: Vehicle Registration 1958

I think this is the first piece of ephemera that led me to start my collection.  I thought it incredible that someone would put their car registration in a book and completely forget about it. I wonder what happened when ol' William got pulled over for speeding. Wasn't the car registration supposed to be affixed to the steering column of the steering wheel way back then? Of course I'm too young to know this, but I've seen characters look for it there in old movies.

Can't remember what book it came out of. The scans are at full size already. I have obliterated address information for obvious reasons.



The weight of the car is on the registration! Why? Does it change over time? Who weighed the car initially? The manufacturer?

There is a lot of information on this, isn't there?  They even had to print instructions along the edges both front and back.

12 comments:

  1. John, a terrific find. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Love to find things like this in books. I have some doozies.

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  3. I believe that putting the vehicle registration in a holder on the steering column was the law in the state of California. I seem to recall Philip Marlowe using it to get the name of the vehicle owner by looking at it. The car registration you show is from the state of New York. I do not believe that putting it on the steering column was ever the law in the state of New York. You would just keep it in your wallet. After it was expired you would get a new one. The old one had no more value and is the right size for a book mark.

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    1. Duh. Why didn't I think that it was an old one that he no longer needed? You're more clever than I. Of course I always need a lot of coffee before my brain really starts working. So I'm blaming this on early morning grogginess.

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  4. Also, I think that the vehicle's weight is still on the vehicle registration because in New York the registration fee is based on vehicle weight. However, if you think the old form had a lot of data, it is nothing compared to what is included in the bar code on the bottom. If you Google it you will be amazed.

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  5. So, like boxers, was it better to have the weigh in on an... um, empty tank?

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    1. I think the way it works is that the state takes the official weight from the manufacturer's specs, but if the owner modifies the vehicle in such a manner as to add to its permanent weight, then he has to tell the motor vehicle bureau so they can add the weight to increase his fee.

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  6. This is still my favorite regular bit on your blog!

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    1. It may get a bit difficult for me to continue this, Tom Cat, as I am reaching the end of the contents of the box. There are only about five or six more items to write about. I haven't found anything in a book in a long time!

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  7. Maybe the weight was for bridges? In case you got stopped for driving too fat a car?

    Bill Smith. Oh come now.....!

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    1. Now, now. Maybe he had unimaginative parents. When I went to look up the name and address I discovered the family is STILL living at that address in that town so I had to get rid of the address. Joe urged me to erase the guy's name, too, but I thought it was so bland no one will ever know who he is.

      Hey! I just realized this is the second "Left Inside" post about a piece of paper related to cars and once again it's a Pontiac.

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