Chris Ackerman
Between 1943 and 1945, Wisconsin issued windshield stickers in place of front license plates, in an effort to save metal for WWII. This page includes information on all windshield stickers issued during this time period. There is documentation of 1943 windshield stickers here.
This page includes information for windshield stickers on the following types of vehicles:
Passenger vehicles were first issued windshield stickers in lieu of front plates in 1943. Motorists with front plates at the time were instructed to take off their front plates and keep them for future use, and were issued windshield stickers to replace the front plates. These windshield stickers were basically a sticker version of the back plates in a reverse color scheme, having the plate number on a yellow sticker. Windshield stickers for 1944 and 1945 were reportedly issued to revalidate the front stickers, and are described as being the same colors as the tabs issued to back plates. There is no known information on the potential design of these stickers, nor is it known if these stickers also had the plate number on them.
According to the 1943 plate guide, windshield stickers were issued to buses at the time. 42-43 base stickers are black on yellow. In addition to the plate stickers, quarterly stickers were also issued; normal quarterly stickers were to be below the plate sticker, while "S" designated stickers were to be to the right of the plate sticker. There is no confirmed information on 43-44 stickers but they likely were black/yellow in a similar design to 43-44 farm stickers.
Farm trucks were issued stickers that were almost identical in design to their back plates, with the exception of the font used on the stickers. 43-44 stickers were of a short, wide design, similar to that of older Wisconsin plates issued before 1932.
Trucks were presumably issued black on orange stickers similar to their back plate counterparts. There is no information on 43-44 windshield stickers, however they likely were similar to those used by farm trucks.
Like farm trucks, heavy trucks were issued stickers that were almost identical to their back plate counterparts. In addition to windshield stickers, heavy trucks were issued quarterly stickers; quarterly stickers with a quarterly number designation were to be put below the plate windshield sticker, while "S" designated stickers were to be put to the right of the plate sticker. No information is known on 43-44 stickers, but they likely were in a similar design to 43-44 farm truck stickers.
This is a table of the known colors used on windshield stickers. Years without a border are colors that are unknown, and an asterisk (*) indicates a prediction based on knowledge of other known windshield stickers.
| Type | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passenger | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 |
| Bus | 42-43 | 43 44* | |
| Farm Truck | 42-43 | 43 44 | |
| Truck | 42-43 | 43 44* | |
| Heavy Truck | 42-43 | 43 44* | |
| Quarterly September | 42-43 | 43 44 | |
| Quarterly December | 42-43 | 43 44 | |
| Quarterly March | 42-43 | 43 44 | |
| Quarterly June | 42-43 | 43 44 |