First state font flap

Nov 30, 1999 — Delawareans are in a dither over the loss of their distinctive license plate font.  When Waldale Manufacturing won the state plate contract from longtime Delaware platecrafter Demco in July 2002, they thoughtlessly substituted Arial for the old font, which had been in use since 1942.  After enough motorist complaints—and a $1,000 payment to Waldale to recreate the traditional font—the firm instead presented the public with Arial Bold, which doesn't look anything like the original font either.  Pictured here are an original Demco plate (top), an early Waldale plate (middle), and a "redesigned" Waldale plate (bottom).  For details, see this article from the Wilmington News-Journal.  The story probably isn't over yet...