Whats with the oval stickers with abbreviations I often see on bumpers?

This was originally European, but I’m not sure what year it started. The 40’s, I believe? It was a way to differentiate cars from different countries when they drove abroad. I suspect it was to explain any differences in lights or license plate placement on the car.

In later years, it just became a souvenir tag- people from different countries would get them from the country they visited, and put them on their cars. The “fad” appears to have exploded sometime in the 90’s, when places in the US started using them strictly for souvenir purposes.

I have no idea where it came from, but I have one on my car that has an “MJ” in the oval. It stands for MaryJane. Its a ski mountain in Colorado. Some of the best slopes in the Rockies.

wow figbash thank you for that i love putting long unanswered questions to rest.

@jiboo 420 sure, i believe you Mary Jane is a mountain in Colorado. How high is that mountain? lol

If you’re driving around Germany, those cars with a “D” in the oval are not from Denmark. Nor are the occupants Dutch.

I think they were invented by Europeans to make people wonder what they are for.

@uberbatman: i am super stoned, but look it up man. Its a part of winter park. There is also another mountain there called vasquez ridge. On the mountain (maryjane) there are tons of smoking huts in the trees that you only know about if you search for them. All the huts are different in their own ways. Some are under ground, some off cliffs, some made out of fallen evergreens, etc. So there. Ha. Just kidding. But seriously.

@jiboo420 just messing with you man. That sounds absolutely awesome about the huts though, wish i didn’t live all the way in Jersey. Im sure snowboarding stoned is amazing lol. Shame ive never even snowboarded sober :(

The D in Germany is for Deuschland (what Germans call Germany). The oval and letters are a way to distinguish what countries cars are originally from. Americans have bastardized this and made it a trendy status symbol for affluent neighborhood abbreviations, e.g. BH=Beverly Hills.

here in the bay area it is to show your pride for your hometown or just to tell people I’m from this part of the bay area

SSF – South San Francisco
HMB – Half Moon Bay
etc.

@über. That sucks man give it a try sometime. You’d love it. You meet a lot of people on the slopes. Lots of chicks. LOL. Riding in the trees never gets old. Always something to surprise you. oh and its 12,060 ft. Ha ha ha

Hmmm, snowboarding down a 12K Rocky mountain weaving in and out of the trees stoned….............. Hmmmm. You will be looking good in the casket, if you protect your face and just die of head trauma or run off the edge and get into the really deep snow.

They are Yuppie status symbols. Nothing more. Why have that on a car in North America? Same thing as those morons who think leaving European plates on the front of their car while they drive around in the US is a sign of how important they are because they’ve been to Europe to buy their Jaguar.

BI..and that doesn’t mean bisexual, it means Block Island