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Formerly the BACK BUMPER
Collecting Ontario licence plates for 41 years
2CENTS ARCHIVES
First started as "My 2 Cents" in 1997, I have written posts numbering into the hundreds. New posts arrive continually. Find an article by clicking the tag cloud below, or selecting a category, doing a search (see magnifying glass below on the right), or just scroll down to see the articles in chronological order.
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Rust In Peace
This summer, I found myself driving past a lot of rusty old vehicles. You know the type: They’re sitting in fields, behind bushes, or...
Nov 15, 2023
Barrie Bust / Country Collection
I write about the Barrie Automotive Flea Market every time I go there. But the way things are going, I might not write about it again...
Sep 15, 2022
2020 Highlights and Outtakes
I suppose that, after three years, I’ve established an annual tradition here at The Back Bumper… a 2Cents installment for all those...
Dec 27, 2020
Hobbyists: Enslaved by Social Media?
Social media has imposed some indelible changes upon this hobbyist’s world. I have a few other hobbies aside from the big one—plate...
Dec 3, 2020
2019 Highlights and Outtakes
After 2018 was finished, I posted a series of pictures from that calendar year that I hadn't posted anywhere else. Some were intended for...
Jan 19, 2020
Plate Storage
Ever had a bright idea? Sure. We all have. Ever have a bright idea that snowballed into a big project? Well, that’s what happened to me...
Jul 25, 2019
Ontario graphic licence plates that should exist
Much ado has been made about Ontario graphic plates over the years. A small-but-loyal group of collectors has been avidly following the...
Mar 2, 2019
2018 Highlights and Outtakes
It's January... a time when very little happens in my collecting world, and usually, I have trouble finding subject material for the next...
Jan 6, 2019
Downtown garage
I received a phone call from an antique auto enthusiast last week. We hadn’t spoken in a few years, but previous to that, we had...
Dec 7, 2017
Twenty years of 2Cents
It was twenty years ago this month that The Back Bumper was first launched! Back then, the Internet seemed to be catching on. There still...
Sep 28, 2017
Leap day article
Brrr, it’s cold. The biggest news to come out of the Ontario media about plates, over the past couple of years, is the peeling...
Feb 29, 2016
Stories for the sake of telling
I’ve been to the Barrie Automotive Flea Market a couple dozen times since I discovered it in the mid-1990s. The first time I was there...
Sep 30, 2015
Is it spring yet?
Ugh, I despise winter… more and more every year. This weekend marks the halfway point between the fall plate meet in Grimsby and the...
Jan 24, 2015
Lightning striking again
A funny thing happened to me recently. But like any good yarn, the lead-up and delivery are everything, and I simply cannot pass up a...
Apr 5, 2014
Doors Open 2012
The lazy days of summer are here. It’s been so hot and dry outside that there hasn’t been much to do except be lazy. I’d like to go to...
Aug 13, 2012
Bert's barn and bug
While I was vending at the Merrickville Cruise and Shop in July 2011, a man by the name of Bert dropped by my table to chat. Bert said he...
Aug 1, 2011
Ketchup
Wow, this column sure has been gathering dust lately. What used to be this site’s most popular feature seems to have taken an extended...
Aug 17, 2010
Watson, Steam, Nash, and Fun
I spent part of my weekend volunteering at the Cumberland Heritage Museum in Watson's Garage, displaying a portion of my license plate...
May 31, 2009
The 5-year chase
It started on the Saturday of the 2002 ALPCA Convention in Niagara Falls. Everyone, including myself, was dismantling their displays and...
Jan 1, 2008
1913 Conundrum
A couple of months ago, a visitor to my site mentioned that she had a few older pairs of plates available that she was looking to sell....
Apr 12, 2006
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