Last Saturday we headed to the Minnesota State Fairgrounds to the Back to the 50’s Car Show.  What a very fun day.  In spite of the heat, or maybe because of it, attendance was unbelievable.  There were so many people and so many different kinds of people out there.  There was definitely something there for everyone.  I heard when I there that there were over 11,500 registrants for this event.  That is over 11,500 cars packed into the fairgrounds to see!  Wow. 

While I have to admit that I completely enjoy looking at all the cars -- from completely restored vintage vehicles to “project cars” to street rods to things that I wasn’t quite sure what they were – they had it all.  But between looking at the cars and all the people watching, I actually found myself focusing in on one thing…the customized license plates! 

This “tag” is something that the car owners love to personalize for their own cars and some are pretty creative!  Some of them are like puzzles where you have to try to figure out what the combination of letters and numbers are trying to say – like this one:  “KTHXBYE”.  This had me stumped, but my daughter got it right away, it’s “K – Thanks – Bye”. 

Some people like to use this tag to tell you what kind of vehicle it is.  That way it leaves no question in your mind as to the year and model.  Other people are lucky enough to have the actual license plate of the year of the vehicle.  That must have taken a lot of hunting to track down a Minnesota license plate from 1942 (or whatever year you are looking for).  Do you remember you use to have to replace the actual plate each year – instead of putting a sticker over the year like we do now?  Some people like to advertise the size of motor they have in their cars.  This is a favorite for real motorheads out there who like to know this piece of information because it says something about the value of the car. 

Other people put a little of their personality into their plates.  This gives us all a really good idea of what they think of their prized possessions.  Or maybe it’s a little bit of humor that they can express.  Or the direction that they are headed with their project.  Sometimes they are just justifying what you may be thinking yourself when you look at the car!  Whatever it is, it is just so much fun to look at them and figure them out and to see how creative people can be with just 7 letters or numbers! 

We brought our grandson with us in his customized hot rod wagon – his license plates on the front and back say it all! I am sure he had the best ride of the day and received a lot of comments about his cool ride.

Yes, we had “1FUNDAY” at Back to the 50’s.  And for those of you who were not able to make it, I just have one question for you, “RUNVS”?