At one time, cities and towns in North Carolina issued metal vehicle license tags to generate revenue. They were placed on the front of the vehicle and were about half the size of the state plates. There doesn't appear to be a lot of information available on the city plates; however, we know they were popular in the 1970's and we saw one from Ellerbe, NC from 1987. Some just had the city's name, and others, had a slogan. For example, in 1976, HIGH POINT dubbed itself "World Hosiery Capital" and BURLINGTON was known as "Bigger-Better." ERWIN, NC billed itself as World Denim Capital.* Erwin, NC, is located in Harnett County, and not too far from Raleigh-Durham-Carey. The Duke Family built a cotton mill there in 1904 that only closed in 2000. Still, we've always seen Greensboro as the Denim Capital of North Carolina, maybe even the world. With the Cone Denim White Oak Plant closed after 110 years, on December 31 (1905-2017), Greensboro will lose the tradition of making jeans. As a matter of fact, there don't appear to be any plants making jeans in North Carolina.
Cities learned they could still collect vehicle taxes without the cost of making the metal plates, and clothing companies realized they could decrease costs by producing jeans in other countries. So, if you find an old city license tag in the garage, or a pair of vintage, made-in-North-Carolina jeans in the back of the closet, hold on to them. You have a piece of local history.
*See an interesting collection of North Carolina city tags, here.
I don't think city tags were ever a thing here.
Posted by: William Kendall | Saturday, January 20, 2018 at 12:01 PM