In this photo only a small portion of the motorcycle’s license plate
can be seen, and then only from the back. But there is much that can be told
about the license plate, the bike and the rider.
Shortly after the photograph appeared in the December 2023 issue of PLATES
magazine, ALPCA member Michael Breeding brought to our attention that the
motorcycle is a 1938 Harley-Davidson knucklehead. Referring to the NMplates
archive of motor vehicle registration records, he found that of all the New
Mexico State Police motorcycles registered in 1938, only one was a
knucklehead (as told by the serial numbers). All of the others were
flatheads. And the one in this photo was tricked out with the extra-cost
chrome package: Handlebars, muffler, headlight, front fender light, and
more. The flatheads were painted.
Also in the registration records, it is shown that the serial number of this
bike is 38EL3018, and it received 1938 State Police motorcycle plate # 1.
From the rider's cap bearing the title "CHIEF" Michael identified the rider
as NMSP's then-Chief, E.J. House. Retired NMSP officer Ron Taylor, NMSP
historian, confirmed the identification as Ely J. (“E.J.”) House, and that
House left the NMSP at the end of 1938.
So even though the plate cannot be read directly, we know more about it, the
motorcycle and the rider than almost any of the other 225+ vehicles pictured
in our entire Car Photos web page!
This photograph, observed on a public website with no identifying
information as to the car, the people, or the year it was taken, would not
have been illustrated on this page but for the fact that it is an excellent
example of how much information can be derived with a little investigative
work, as was done here by three ALPCA members. First of all, part of the
license plate is obscured, including the year, part of the serial number and
most of the state name. ALPCA member Mark Gutierrez was the first to realize
that though there are only three letters of the state name visible, this was
enough to confirm that it’s a New Mexico plate. ALPCA member Phil Hill then
identified the car as a 1937 Plymouth. ALPCA member Bill Johnston noticed
that in addition to being able to read the last three digits of the license plate
number, there is one more digit identifiable to the left, such that all of
the last four digits of the plate number are definitely known, i.e., 2-619.
Moreover, the colors of the plate, even in a black & white photo, show that
the plate can be only from 1936 or 1938. In neither of these years did
automobile registrations reach 90,000, so there can be at most one
additional digit to the left of those visible in the photo. In other words,
there are only nine possibilities for the plate number, namely: 2-619,
12-619, 22-619, 32-619, 42-619, 52-619, 62-619, 72-619, 82-619. It was
therefore necessary to search both the 1936 and 1938 registration records
only for each of these nine numbers. (1936 cannot be eliminated because of
the car’s 1937 model year, as these models were introduced several months
before the end of 1936.)
A search of the records for these nine plate numbers for both years was
done, yielding a total of 18 records. Only two of these records were for
Plymouths and only one of those was a 1937 model. That record is for 1938
plate number 22-619, revealing that the car in the photo was a 1937 Plymouth
Sedan, s/n 181675394, weight 2,787 lbs, registered to T.E. Hinman of Eunice,
New Mexico. And finally, David L. Minton, Lea County Historian, turned
up the additional information that Hinman’s full name is Thurman Elsmer
“Turk” Hinman. He was born December 23, 1908 in Ranger, Texas and died June
20, 1994 in Anaheim, California, where he is buried. A number of his
relatives still live in Eunice.
We can then surmise that one of the men in the photo must be Mr. Hinman,
leaving us only to wonder why both are dressed so formally, including
wearing highly polished shoes, after a hunt in the boondocks.
The service staff of the Jobe-Rollins Buick dealership in Hobbs is seen outside the company building in 1938. The car at far left is bearing 1938 Dealer plate D-100 registered to that company, and is a new, unsold 1938 Buick. The middle car is a Jobe-Rollins company car with passenger plate 23-816, identified in the registration records as a 1936 Buick coupe, s/n 43082993, weighing in at 3151 lbs. The embroidered names on the men’s uniforms identify them from left to right as Robert, Brooks, and unidentified, as the cap worn by Brooks is obscuring the name on the third man’s uniform. Information written on the back of the photo indicates that Robert’s full name is Robert Hutchings. NMplates collection.
The 1938 Truck plate in the foreground reveals that this is a 1936
Chevrolet pickup registered to Jesse Marti of Vaughn. The location of the
scene is unknown, but is definitely not in the immediate area of Vaughn. The
woman and the cat sitting on the ground in front of her are both
unidentified.
When the first passenger cars were obtained by the State Police in 1935 they received state Official license plates. This remained the case into the first half of 1938, when purpose-made State Police license plates were first introduced for patrol cars. Thus, as seen here, in the early part of 1938 State Police passenger cars bore 1938 Official plates. These were swapped out later in the year for 1938 State Police plates. The vehicle seen here, a 1938 Buick, later received 1938 State Police plate #2. Author’s collection.
This 1933 International pickup truck was registered to Joe Tidwell of Lovington in 1938. “Son of white migrant sitting on bumper of their truck.” Russell Lee photograph, U.S. Farm Security Administration, Library of Congress photo archives.
Young girl eating an orange on the back bumper of a 1929 Chrysler sedan carrying a 1938 Passenger plate. The car was registered to William Campbell of Artesia. “Migrant girl sitting on back of car.” Russell Lee photograph, U.S. Farm Security Administration, Library of Congress photo archives.
