Originally Posted by
steve0257
Licenses were fairly common up into the 70s. Supposedly to help with tracing lost or stolen bikes. Didn't work that well and the cities finally figured out it was costing them to much money to run a registration program.
That was my take on it. I have several bikes with license stickers on them from various locales. The ones from my area were voluntary and could be done at any fire department or precinct station. I inquired a couple of years ago and have learned that the data base was lost some 20 years ago, about 3 years after they stopped the registration, a lot of help that was. FWIW I had several registered bikes stolen over the years and never had a single one recovered, so I don't put too much stock in it. But it is neat to see the stickers from the different areas. Even earlier than the stickers, dating back into the 1940's were the little metal plates.
Aaron
