It is surprising how many of these 1933 Colorado UR license plate tags have survived the passage of years, especially since the program that spawned them was itself around for such a short period of time. What is in short supply, however, is readily available information about the history of these tags.
Colorado began issuing these UR automobile tags on September 1, 1933, as a means of raising “unemployment relief” funds in the midst of the Great Depression. The tags were purchased at the county courthouse, and the cost was based upon the value of the automobile, ranging from $2 for a car valued at less than $50 to a fee of $60 for a car valued at more than $5,000. The money collected was to be credited to a county emergency relief fund and expended by county commissioners for direct relief of the unemployed. When the fee was paid, the taxpayer was given the metal tag with instructions to affix it to the rear license plate of his or her car.
Enforcement was left up to the counties. The plan was for police officers to enforce the tax law in the same manner as regular motor license laws, meaning they could prevent a car from operating on public roads if the metal tag was not present on the rear license plate. The state also had a club to encourage enforcement; unless the law was enforced and the tax collected, other relief funds would be withheld from the county. Many civic organizations also got involved by making collection of the tax a major project, urging fellow citizens to pay it as evidence of “patriotism and good citizenship.” There was only one problem with this approach: the law was unconstitutional, and the Colorado Supreme Court ruled it as such the very next month. In Walker v. Bedford, a decision the American Automobile Association called “truly epochal,” the court ruled that the law violated two sections of the state constitution, one that prohibited the creation of a tax for county purposes, and one that prohibited any tax that was not uniform on all classes of property.
Car owners who had already paid the tax were issued refunds, but they were apparently allowed to keep the tags because there are so many still around. There are currently at least six listed for sale on eBay, and they do not command much of a price, probably because of the less than illustrious history.
Finally, just for fun, this is an excerpt from the January 8, 1933, issue of the Omaha World Herald highlighting some of the new automobiles offered for 1933.
Harley Earl is frequently described as a pioneer, but even that term seems inadequate when talking about a man of artistry and vision who literally shaped American automotive styling. Born in 1893, Earl started out working in his father’s carriage works shop in Los Angeles. While there, he began customizing cars for movie celebrities on the side. Earl was part of the transitioning of the automotive industry from its buggy and wagon roots by bringing cars down off their high wheels and enclosing the tops. What started out as a side business quickly made the Earls the biggest builder of high-grade custom bodies in the west.
The Earls’ going concern was purchased by Don Lee in 1917 and he kept Harley Earl on as chief designer. Lee sent Earl to the eastern part of the country and also to Europe to study the trends. As one paper put it, Earl was soon making the cars designed in the east “look like something the cat dragged in.” Lee also owned a Cadillac dealership, and Earl’s skills caught the attention of Cadillac executives who gave him the task of designing the 1927 LaSalle.
At the time,
Earl said that the main advantage in designing the LaSalle was that “there was
not a tool or die waiting to be used for its manufacture. That permitted us to begin building this car
from the ground up. It placed us in a
position where we were dared to execute something distinctly different – and
that is exactly what we set out to do.” The design was heavily influenced by
the streamlined bodies of the racing industry and, interestingly, Earl called
the LaSalle distinctly “American in its lines, appearance and atmosphere.”
This idea of
American versus European design was revisited by Earl the following year. He noted that some American carmakers that
were offering “European design” were making two very big mistakes. First, they were failing to capture the more
outstanding trends in the design of European car bodies and second, they were
failing to differentiate between engineering and body design and therefore were
copying undesirable European engineering.
According to Earl, “Europe today offers nothing comparable with the
surging power, sturdy construction and roomy comfort of American motor cars,
three characteristics that seem reflections of our country’s own vastness.”
Earl knew
what he was talking about, and the new LaSalle was a hit with the public. General Motors put Earl in charge of their
new art and color section, and he remained with General Motors until his
retirement in 1958. When he died in
1969, the papers referred to an interview in which Earl had said, “My primary
purpose for years has been to lengthen and lower the American automobile, at
times in reality and always, at least, in appearance.” He is credited with
curved-glass rear windows, two-tone paint, wrap-around windshields, the first
Corvette and, best of all, tail fins.
1955 Nomad
Many of us who appreciate the old iron think that Earl’s way of thinking is sadly lacking in today’s cookie cutter auto industry, but, thankfully, the spirit of Harley Earl appears to be alive and well in custom shops scattered along the backroads of this great country. One such shop is located not far from me in Hastings, Nebraska. The shop is called Custom Rides, and the man swinging the hammer is Pat Brubaker.
My better
half and I were introduced to Brubaker by a mutual friend and spent an
afternoon at his shop. We walked away
very impressed with both the skills and the work product at Custom Rides, and
if you have a need for metal shaping or fabrication, this shop should be your
first call. Brubaker makes everything
from trim to fenders to entire car bodies and works with steel, aluminum,
stainless, copper and brass. He has found a niche making odd and unique parts
such as part of a Reo grille shroud and a Tucker trim piece for, get this,
customers in California who were disappointed in the results from some local
shops they tried in the Golden State.
Welcome to the Cornhusker State.
Brubaker
credits his racing background for his education and approach to problem
solving. He says while racing midgets
and mini-sprints, he was around smart people all the time and learned much from
them, including how to make all the odd and unique parts needed. He jokes that, in racing, when you change one
thing that means you are going to change everything but the paint color. This background has clearly served him well
because he isn’t afraid to “re-invent the wheel”, even when that wheel is an
English wheel (a metal-working tool). If
he needs to make the tools that make the tools that make the tools in order to
finish a job, that’s exactly what he does.
Some of the
projects in the shop now include this chassis for a 1950 Henry J . . .
. . . as well these dually truck fenders. The first picture shows the original that the customer wanted replicated, left and right. Brubaker started by creating an edge band and a buck for it to rest on. That is a smooth finish!
Brubaker would like people to know that the things they want are not out of reach. Whether you are looking for a rolling chassis or complete car body, this shop can produce it. He has a healthy respect for tradition but still looks for a better way to get the job done, and that is an approach that Harley Earl himself would likely approve of. If you want to see if Brubaker can assist you with your project, this is how you reach him:
This blog post is my honest and independent opinion and not sponsored in any way.
Sources:
“Big Automobile Factory and Top Factory Now Property of Cadillac Distributer Here.” Los Angeles Evening Express, 12 June 1919, p. 2.
“Designer of Cadillac and LaSalle New Bodies Visits Home Town With Other Executives.” Los Angeles Evening Express, 15 February 1928, p. 3.
“Don Lee Builds Another Special Classic.” San Francisco Chronicle, 21 November 1920, p. 4A.
“GM Stylist Harley Earl Dies.” Detroit Free Press, 11 April 1969, p. 3.
“Harley Earl, Of Car Factor in Los Angeles Home Again.” “Los Angeles Sunday Times, 15 May 1927, p. 9.
Henry, Bill. “Alumni of Auto Row.” Los Angeles Times, 30 March 1930, p. 5.
Ivory Roadster Especially For Bay City Show.” Los Angeles Times, 17 February 1924, p.13.
“Stylist Traces Auto From Whipsocket Age.” The Indianapolis Sunday Star, 28 October 1928, p. 2.
$25,000 Dazzler of Roscoe Arbuckle Makes Motorists Gasp in Amazement.” Los Angeles Evening Express, 1 May 1920, p. 7.
