PORCELAIN PLATES.NET A Website for Porcelain License Plate Collectors & Enthusiasts |
About Me
MY COLLECTION
I first started collecting license plates when I was about 13 or 14 years old. My
brother sent me some modern Indiana graphic plates that he had used on his
own car, thinking that I might like to hang them up in my room. He was right!
From there, my father and I started roaming swap meets around Southern
California, looking for various things, including plates. Soon, we learned of the
Automobile License Plate Collectors Association (ALPCA) and joined in 1986. He
and I attended our first national convention in Albuquerque the following year. I
quickly met many of the collectors who would become my mentors and my dad
and I began to refine the direction and emphasis of our collection.
One of the earliest collectors I met was
the legendary Don Merrill, who took
notice of me because I had turned up the
lowest first-issue New Jersey plate known
(#13) at the Long Beach swap meet. He
had to have it, and he succeeded. In
exchange, I got some of my earliest
quality porcelain plates – including a 1914
Alabama. I also soon met Gene Hauman,
who was assembling what would become
the most spectacular collection of
porcelain plates known. Although my dad
and I were still collecting state runs, Don
and Gene helped us focus our attention
on porcelain. After that point, our focus
shifted further and further away from the state runs – first collecting only into
about the ‘50s when plates became relatively standardized, then deciding to
focus on the teens and twenties, and ultimately giving it up almost entirely to
concentrate on porcelain. The exception is with early Canadian plates and
Hawaiian plates from 1917 through about WWII.
Our porcelain collection now consists of over 700 plates, including more than
600 different varieties. Among our specialties are California non-passenger
porcelains, Canadian porcelains of all types, city & county issues and even
porcelain plates from Argentina. We have among the finest collections of city
issued plates from Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. My father and I greatly
look forward to attending the ALPCA national conventions each year and we
have attended every convention together since 1987.
MY FAMILY
My wife, Crissy, is also in the television
industry, working as a VP in the
Business Affairs department for
NBC-Universal. She and I have been
together since 1989 when we met on a
blind date as freshmen in college. We
got married in 1996, and welcomed our
twin sons, Sean & Drew, into the family
in October of 2004.
MY BOOK
MY WORK
Upon graduation, I chose not to go into academia, instead pursuing a career as a
producer in the television industry. I work on documentaries, specials, and clip
shows and have been involved in the production of numerous projects for
networks such as NBC, CBS, VH1, Lifetime, and TV Land. To see some of my
credits, please see my IMDB page.
I first started collecting license plates when I was about 13 or 14 years old. My
brother sent me some modern Indiana graphic plates that he had used on his
own car, thinking that I might like to hang them up in my room. He was right!
From there, my father and I started roaming swap meets around Southern
California, looking for various things, including plates. Soon, we learned of the
Automobile License Plate Collectors Association (ALPCA) and joined in 1986. He
and I attended our first national convention in Albuquerque the following year. I
quickly met many of the collectors who would become my mentors and my dad
and I began to refine the direction and emphasis of our collection.
One of the earliest collectors I met was
the legendary Don Merrill, who took
notice of me because I had turned up the
lowest first-issue New Jersey plate known
(#13) at the Long Beach swap meet. He
had to have it, and he succeeded. In
exchange, I got some of my earliest
quality porcelain plates – including a 1914
Alabama. I also soon met Gene Hauman,
who was assembling what would become
the most spectacular collection of
porcelain plates known. Although my dad
and I were still collecting state runs, Don
and Gene helped us focus our attention
on porcelain. After that point, our focus
shifted further and further away from the state runs – first collecting only into
about the ‘50s when plates became relatively standardized, then deciding to
focus on the teens and twenties, and ultimately giving it up almost entirely to
concentrate on porcelain. The exception is with early Canadian plates and
Hawaiian plates from 1917 through about WWII.
Our porcelain collection now consists of over 700 plates, including more than
600 different varieties. Among our specialties are California non-passenger
porcelains, Canadian porcelains of all types, city & county issues and even
porcelain plates from Argentina. We have among the finest collections of city
issued plates from Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. My father and I greatly
look forward to attending the ALPCA national conventions each year and we
have attended every convention together since 1987.
MY FAMILY
My wife, Crissy, is also in the television
industry, working as a VP in the
Business Affairs department for
NBC-Universal. She and I have been
together since 1989 when we met on a
blind date as freshmen in college. We
got married in 1996, and welcomed our
twin sons, Sean & Drew, into the family
in October of 2004.
MY BOOK
MY WORK
Upon graduation, I chose not to go into academia, instead pursuing a career as a
producer in the television industry. I work on documentaries, specials, and clip
shows and have been involved in the production of numerous projects for
networks such as NBC, CBS, VH1, Lifetime, and TV Land. To see some of my
credits, please see my IMDB page.
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Apart from license plates and my family, my focus has
been on education and work. I graduated with a
double major from the University of Southern
California (USC) in 1993, where I studied American
Literature and Ethnic Studies. From there, I went on
to obtain my Masters Degree in African American
history from the University of California, Los Angeles
(UCLA) in 1996 and continued on to receive my Ph.D.
in U.S. History from UCLA in 2000. My research as a
doctoral student focused on the history of shipboard
insurrections during the transatlantic slave trade. In
2006, Louisiana State University Press published my
book, “If We Must Die: Shipboard Insurrections in the
Era of the Atlantic Slave Trade.” For more
information, or to purchase this book, please click
here.
been on education and work. I graduated with a
double major from the University of Southern
California (USC) in 1993, where I studied American
Literature and Ethnic Studies. From there, I went on
to obtain my Masters Degree in African American
history from the University of California, Los Angeles
(UCLA) in 1996 and continued on to receive my Ph.D.
in U.S. History from UCLA in 2000. My research as a
doctoral student focused on the history of shipboard
insurrections during the transatlantic slave trade. In
2006, Louisiana State University Press published my
book, “If We Must Die: Shipboard Insurrections in the
Era of the Atlantic Slave Trade.” For more
information, or to purchase this book, please click
here.
| OTHER THINGS I COLLECT |
| ----------- |
| THAMES CONSERVANCY BOAT LICENSES |
| My dad and me at the 2008 ALPCA Convention in Salt Lake City |
| My boys: Sean & Drew |
