Little did Bill Housholder know when he began collecting old license plates as a youth he would one day own a piece of history.

Housholder was born and raised in Phoenix, one of the rare Arizona natives. In January of 1942, a woman and her two daughters moved in next door with T.C. Downing and his wife. Mrs. Downing’s brother was living and working as a car dealer in Honolulu with his family, and he felt it was safer for his wife and children to be on the mainland.

“They lived right across the street from Pearl Harbor. According to their story, they were preparing to leave for church when the Japanese attack started just before 8 a.m. Hawaii time Dec. 7, 1941. At first [the family] stood on the front porch and watched the attack, but when the bullets got close they went inside,” Housholder said as he sat in his Sedona living room relating the story.

Americans commemorated the 69th anniversary of the attack Tuesday, Dec. 7 — Pearl Harbor Day.

The family living in Hawaii did not leave their house during the entire attack for fear of getting shot, but they were able to watch the destruction taking place. Afterward, they came outside to find their home had received some 24 bullet holes from Japanese aircraft strafing the area, their automobile was hit by eight bullets and the license plate received three hits.

“They were afraid of an invasion. That’s why he sent his family to Phoenix. They brought the 1941 license plate with them for some reason. Mrs. Downing knew I had an interest in license plate collecting, and they gave it to me. That’s how I ended up with this,” Housholder said and held up the plate. “I was 13 then.”

The plate has the name of the city across the top, Honolulu, instead of the state name like all United States license plates do. Housholder thinks it is because Hawaii was not a state at the time. The eight Hawaiian islands were annexed by the United States in 1898 and became a territory. It was an independent republic before that time. Hawaii became the newest of the 50 states in 1959.

Four years after getting the license plate, Housholder enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps.

“Although it was 1946, and the war was over, we were still under a state of emergency. I was 17 years old. My dad had to sign for me,” Housholder said and laughed as he shook his head.

Housholder has taken the 1941 Honolulu license plate to several shows where it has won many awards.
“It’s a piece of history,” he said.