- An enterprising car dealer named B.S. Clark published “Who It Is,” a pocket-sized automobile directory, until he died in 1927.
- Less than 2,000 cars were registered in 1906 — and they belonged to politicians, doctors, businessmen, and Gilded Age figures.
Rhode Islanders’ fascination with low-numbered license plates goes all the way back to 1904, when the General Assembly first began requiring automobile owners to register their cars.
At the time, owning a motor vehicle was a luxury reserved for the elite – and squarely out of reach for most people. But for just 15 cents, you could purchase a pocket-sized directory that made it possible to look up any license plate and find out who was driving.
Simply titled “Who It Is,” the guide later became known as the Rhode Island Automobile Directory, and it was published until the 1920s.
Surviving copies are extremely hard to find today, but The Providence Journal recently acquired one from August 1906. Here are some of the highlights.