The Back Bumper is now Ontplates.com

I started this website back in the summer of 1997. The name —The Back Bumper— just came to me spontaneously, and that's how the site has been known for the past 28 years. It's been around since before Facebook, before Insta, YouTube, and even Google. It was one of the first sites to specialize in plates. Prior to that, I used Listservs, Telnet newsgroups (think alt.news.media) and in the early 90s, local Bulletin Board Systems over dial-up.

The Back Bumper... Clever name, I suppose. The editor of ALPCA's Plates magazine approached me years ago to ask if he could co-opt the name for a then-new, rear-cover feature-- a large vintage picture, plate-related of course, that would have the same name as my website. Sure, I said. I was flattered that others found the name cool, and I was pleased to be supportive to my collecting club.

The Back Bumper as it appeared in 2008.

As cool of a name as it may be, it doesn't exactly attract web traffic. In the age of keywords and search terms, "Back Bumper" doesn't associate itself with licence plates... at least not on Google. Not that it really mattered... this is a niche site, for like-minded hobbyists, and most of them already know where to find me. It has been 28 years, after all.

The Back Bumper as it appeared just before its renaming in 2025.

In an unrelated development, I became sick and tired of running my YOM restoration business, and after ruminating on it for some time, I decided to wind it down. I had lots of repeat clients, but they might only check my site once every few months, or even less often. So I dragged out the liquidation process for a year, and then stayed open an extra six months to fulfill my warranty obligations. The warranties expired on June 30, and the business closed at midnight on July 1.

Ontplates.com as it appeared from 2020 to 2024, as a YOM provider business.

Ontplates.com has served me well as a combination domain and business name. It's much more in tune with my interests, and much more self-explanatory than "The Back Bumper." I opted not to sell the business because I wanted to close it on my own terms, and more than that, I wanted to hang on to the branding. I created the logo myself a dozen years ago, and even though it's sorta amateur, it does have recognition. People often found me with plates to show or sell through that name... The Back Bumper drew those kinds of folks much less frequently. The solution? Re-christen my site of 28 years with the Ontplates.com branding. I'll phase out the Back Bumper name over the next year or so, after people figure out what I've done.

Ontplates.com as it appeared between 2013 and 2019, with the annual Christmas promo banner. A busy design.

When you see the logo here, I want you to know that I love Ontario plates, and I'll consider buying yours. My blog, the 2Cents, is the site's most popular feature, and it'll continue as usual. Now that I only have one site to deal with, I might add more features to this site: More pictures, more resources, and heck, maybe I'll even resurrect my trade page, which I kiboshed over a decade ago.

I must say, I vastly prefer the Wix platform that this site uses, rather than the confusing and time-consuming world of Wordpress, which is what Ontplates used when it was a business. There were some days when I spent more time coding than cleaning or painting plates. Well, no more!

So welcome to Ontplates.com all over again. The name is different, but it's still just Jon's hobby site, after 28 years and counting.