Plate of the Week: 2006 3M NCIA Convention Souvenir Plate
Last week we took a look at a circa 2005 Vanity plate and delved into the use of the letters O and Q. This week we look at a 2006 3M National Correctional Industries Association (NCIA) souvenir plate.
The National Correctional Industries Association (NCIA) is an professional association made up of employees of the various corrections departments in the U.S. who deal with prison industries and the various vendors that serve them. One fairly common thing produced by such prison industry is license plates, with New Jersey producing theirs at Bayside Prison in Cumberland County.
In March of 2006 the NCIA held their collection in Atlantic City and one of the vendors was 3M. who is a major supplier of license plate reflective sheeting and other license plate related technologies. At conventions such as this, such as the convention of the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, 3M produces a plate as a tchotchke often using their digital license plate system to produce personalized flat plates.
Oddly this plate states “This 3M Digital License Plate was produced especially for you.” However, it is not a flat plate it is an embossed one and the dies reveal that it is not one produced in New Jersey. Judging by the dies one of the two vendors for Illinois plates – Waldale Manufacturing Ltd. or Macon Resources.
Regardless of where it is from, it is an interesting oddball plate with a Garden State connection.
If you have a plate you would like featured as a Plate of the Week, please contact us or put a photo of the plate in our flickr group and drop us a line.
