Visitors discuss license plates Saturday at the East Tennessee Auto Plate show Saturday at Cleveland State Community College. Vendors brought a variety of tags, both common and rare, from every state and several countries.CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Automobile tag collectors gathered by the score here Saturday to swap, buy, display and talk.
Collectors from Ohio to Alabama set up their boxes and display cases in rooms at Cleveland State Community College. It was not just license plates, though. There were tag holder and ornaments, too, changing with the years.
Most of the participants are members of the American License Plate Collectors Association, said Joe Sharp, a collector and organizer of MainStreet Cleveland’s summer cruise-ins. But for this meet, they don’t have to be.
Why license plates?
“I think a lot of it has to do with the appearance; the beauty of them, if you will,” Sharp said. “They are historical artifacts, too.”