John Dole Debuts Norwood’s First “Prestige” Plates-This Day In Norwood History-May 5, 1966

A Bit of Class-Carwise

Long before the “VANITY” plate was a common sight on Route 1, a Norwood engineer made local history by trading in his mundane 1951 registration for a bit of 1960s sophistication. In May 1966, the name of the game changed from “low numbers” to “prestige,” and John Dole was leading the pack.

In an era described by reporter Cornelius J. Noonan as one of “new sophistication,” the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles opened the floodgates for what we now know as vanity plates. On a Wednesday in early May, John Dole, a 49-year-old engineer with the telephone company and a 12-year resident of Norwood, walked into the Registry and paid his $9 fee to cement his family name in steel.

Dole turned in his old registration, K-1176, which he had held since 1951, in exchange for the four letters that defined his identity: “DOLE”. For Dole, a veteran who had lost his original low-number plate (50607) when he entered the service in 1939, this wasn’t just about a car; it was about reclaiming a bit of “class.”

While Deputy Registrar Robert C. Capasso noted that other early applicants were choosing plates like “TOPCAT” and “HAPPY”, Dole remained pragmatic about his choice. He joked that his conspicuous new tags might invite some local ribbing—particularly about “being on the dole”—but for a man who had worked for the telephone company for 21 years, the $9 investment was a small price to pay for a personalized piece of Norwood history.

Source: The Norwood Messenger, May 5, 1966

📸 THEN & NOW: The Commuter’s Identity

In 1966, John Dole likely visited the local Registry branch to pick up his plates. Today, Norwood residents still display their “Prestige” plates while parked at the Norwood Depot or driving down Washington Street, though the $9 fee has long since vanished. The “sophistication” Noonan wrote about became a massive revenue generator for the Commonwealth, with over 60,000 applications predicted in that first year alone.

Norwood Legacy: John Dole represented the quintessential mid-century Norwood professional—a veteran and a dedicated “telephone company” engineer (likely New England Telephone & Telegraph) who helped build the town’s modern infrastructure.