PLATE, LICENSE - AK 68

The Richon vineyard was originally planted by Joseph and Anton Marian in 1901 as Marians Vineyard with some locals referring to it as The Slavonian Vineyard. Joseph was Anton’s uncle and was originally from Austria.

A cellar was built at the site in 1906 but was almost completely burnt to the ground in 1914, it would be rebuilt and extended.

In 1919 the vineyard was sold to Gerald Valentine Patrick McCarthy who renamed it in 1920 to Richon after Rishon LeZion, a town in what is now Israel. McCarthy had spent time in the town during the First World War as an intelligence officer.

In 1910 license plates were introduced nationwide to identify vehicles used in crimes or causing injury.

Early plates were made of enamel with the sequence on the front. The sequence started at 1 with the regional indicator on the left such as displayed on this license plate. The regional indicator was a two or sometimes three letter abbreviation for the Roads Board or the subdistrict municipality. The [AK] is for Armadale-Kelmscott.

In 1936 a nationwide standardising directive was issued, requiring all license plates to be of a set uniform size and embossed with Australian standard dies. This would have made this style of license plate obsolete.

In the following decades shifts in legislation have changed the requirements license plates must meet. Mostly this has been materials, size, and colours.

In the following decades ammendments to legislation covering license plates have changed the required size, sequencing, materials, and colouring.