# Did Antique Cars Have Blue Tail-lamps? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 11, 2006, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antique-cars-have-blue-tail-lamps/376036 "2006-10-11T11:00:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antique-cars-have-blue-tail-lamps/376036/1 "2006-10-11T11:00:18Z")
- - - …So I’m browsing the Illinois motor vehicle statutes when I run across this bit: > [@](#): > > (625 ILCS 5/12‑208) (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 12‑208) > Sec. 12‑208. Signal lamps and signal devices. > (a) Every vehicle other than an antique vehicle displaying an antique plate operated in this State shall be equipped with a stop lamp or lamps on the rear of the vehicle which shall display a red or amber light …[snip]… > … > (a‑1) An antique vehicle, including an antique motorcycle, may display a blue light or lights of up to one inch in diameter as part of the vehicle’s rear stop lamp or lamps. … 😕 What is the purpose of allowing one-inch blue spots on the brake lights of antique cars? ~ ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antique-cars-have-blue-tail-lamps/376036/2 "2006-10-11T11:39:33Z")
After market taillight lenses w/ a small blue insert were popular for several decades, they were called “blue dots”, which may have been a trademark name, I’m not sure. Many states outlawed them in the 60’s-70’s, although I’m not sure why. It seems that antique car owners are getting those laws recinded in some states. The dots, actually small dark blue lenses, were usually located so that they became more obvious up when the brake lights came on, w/ a distinctive purple color. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antique-cars-have-blue-tail-lamps/376036/3 "2006-10-11T11:42:09Z")
Antique cars had red or maybe white taillamps. The clause about blue taillights is in the law to accomodate hot rodders, who like to insert a little round blue lens into the taillight lens. These little round lenses are called “blue dots” and are the epitome of cool. From close up the blue is very apparent; from a distance the taillight looks purple. [http://www.belairautoparts.com/49-52%20Parts/50\_blue\_dot.jpg](http://www.belairautoparts.com/49-52%20Parts/50_blue_dot.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antique-cars-have-blue-tail-lamps/376036/4 "2006-10-11T11:56:05Z")
J.C. Whitney still has them in their catalog. [JC Whitney - Auto Parts and Car Culture](http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Product/Pr-p_Product.CATENTRY_ID:2003579/c-10101/Nty-1/p-2003579/Ntx-mode+matchallpartial/N-10101/tf-Browse/s-10101/Ntk-AllTextSearchGroup?Ntt=blue+dot) I had a set on my '87 Ford van. Kind of cool. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![KP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a9adbd/32.png) [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antique-cars-have-blue-tail-lamps/376036/5 "2006-10-11T11:59:32Z")
Of course, it helps to remember that “antique” cars aren’t Just Model Ts and the like. In Massachusetts a car becomes a classic at 20 years and an antique at 25. To some of our younger members this may seem as fitting as it did to me when I was young and the cars of the 1950s were antiques, worthy of restoring – but many of us find it disconcerting that our first cars (or that motorcycle that I put away in the back of the garage in winter '85, and always meant to ride again) are now antiques. Makes us feel a bit antique ourselves. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antique-cars-have-blue-tail-lamps/376036/6 "2006-10-11T12:32:06Z")
Really old cars-- the ones which were made in the 1910s-- had [brass lamps](http://www.brassauto.com/cars8.html) (click on “lamp info” if you don’t see the pic). They had three glass windows: one clear or amber, one red and one blue. The one pictured is an oil lamp, but there were also carbide versions. The first pics are of the tail lights, which were mounted on a metal spike. The bottom two (the round ones) are carbide lights which are the headlights. They were mounted on pairs of y-shaped spikes, one through the loop on each side. [aside] I once spent the good part of a year cleaning a set of these lamps for an antique car we have in the collection of the museum in which I work. [/aside] ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antique-cars-have-blue-tail-lamps/376036/7 "2006-10-12T21:17:21Z")
[QUOTE=Lissa] [aside] I once spent the good part of a year cleaning a set of these lamps for an antique car we have in the collection of the museum in which I work. [/aside] [/QUOTE] Really? Like, eight-hours-a-day five days a week better part of a year? Man, that’s a lot of work–no wonder brass went out of fashion for auto trim! ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antique-cars-have-blue-tail-lamps/376036/8 "2006-10-12T22:59:45Z")
[QUOTE=DougC] - - - …So I’m browsing the Illinois motor vehicle statutes when I run across this bit: 😕 What is the purpose of allowing one-inch blue spots on the brake lights of antique cars? ~ [/QUOTE] In the late 30’s and 40’s some cars came equipped with the red tail light covers equipped with a small round blue insert which at the time IIRC was called a “Tiger’s Eye.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antique-cars-have-blue-tail-lamps/376036/9 "2006-10-13T09:16:59Z")
In many states where the blue dots are illegal, the law isn’t strictly enforced. If the driver of a car is a real jerk to a cop that pulls him over, they’ll get cited for it, but otherwise the cop will just ignore it. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antique-cars-have-blue-tail-lamps/376036/10 "2006-10-13T13:30:45Z")
[QUOTE=Rocketeer] Really? Like, eight-hours-a-day five days a week better part of a year? Man, that’s a lot of work–no wonder brass went out of fashion for auto trim! [/QUOTE] I only work part time, so it’s more like four hours a day, four days a week. These things were _really_ crusty, covered in a thick coat of verdirgis. In places, it had completely eaten away the brass. Being a museum and all, we have to use very careful and gentle methods, so that’s why it took so long. When the car was donated to us by an old man, it looked like hell–badly repainted, battered and coated with 100 years of grime. (I even took part of the engine apart and cleaned it to get out all of the grease which had turned cement-like over the years. I’d go home at night as filthy as an auto mechanic.) It took more than two years to restore the whole car. It was worth it. When the old man came to see the finished product, all shiny and looking as it had the day it was made, he wept. ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antique-cars-have-blue-tail-lamps/376036/11 "2006-10-13T13:36:17Z")
Lissa, Any chance you could link to a pic of the car and maybe some other interesting exhibits in your museum? ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antique-cars-have-blue-tail-lamps/376036/12 "2006-10-13T14:14:15Z")
[QUOTE=A.R. Cane] Lissa, Any chance you could link to a pic of the car and maybe some other interesting exhibits in your museum? [/QUOTE] No, sorry. First of all, I wouldn’t want to reveal my Secret Identity, and secondly, my museum’s website is a little sparse on pictures of the artifacts themselves. They’re really funny about photographs. To take a picture of an artifact, you have to have written permission from the curator and sign a form swearing that you will not use them in any publication. I don’t know if the internet can be considered a “publication” but I’m going to err on the side of caution. ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antique-cars-have-blue-tail-lamps/376036/13 "2006-10-13T14:25:31Z")
[QUOTE=Lissa] No, sorry. First of all, I wouldn’t want to reveal my Secret Identity, and secondly, my museum’s website is a little sparse on pictures of the artifacts themselves. They’re really funny about photographs. To take a picture of an artifact, you have to have written permission from the curator and sign a form swearing that you will not use them in any publication. I don’t know if the internet can be considered a “publication” but I’m going to err on the side of caution. [/QUOTE] Too bad. Your job sounds very interesting. Thanks for responding. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-antique-cars-have-blue-tail-lamps/376036/14 "2006-10-13T14:43:14Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] In many states where the blue dots are illegal, the law isn’t strictly enforced. If the driver of a car is a real jerk to a cop that pulls him over, they’ll get cited for it, but otherwise the cop will just ignore it. [/QUOTE] Does that go for blue LED’s as well? Last time I was in CA, I’m sure I saw cars that had brakelight arrays including a blue LED.