I recommend first reading how the province of La Pampa came to be named Eva Perón, after having waited more than 40 years to go from being a Governorate or National Territory to becoming a Province (see Provincialization of National Territories) . The same section details the same for the province of El Chaco.

The province of La Pampa has had an interesting evolution throughout its history in terms of the issuance of its license plates, first as a Territory (issued under the name "Pampa Central", "Pampa" or "La Pampa"), then as "Province of La Pampa", later as "Province Eva Perón" (in two versions, one by locality and another as a provincial plate) and finally as a provincial plate again under "La Pampa". Personally, I believe that it is one of the richest provinces in terms of variety of plates, and in turn, some of them reflect the political history of our country.

Until 1951, all plates for this province were issued with the name "Pampa", as "La Pampa", or even without mentioning the province. On August 8, 1951, Law No. 14,037 was enacted, provincializing La Pampa, giving it the name of La Pampa Province. Since the plates were likely manufactured before the new year, so they would be available in each municipality or development commission starting on January 2 of each period, the brand-new plates began circulating in 1952 under the name "Province of La Pampa". On January 24, 1952, the Constituent Assembly met for the first time in La Pampa, following the national elections of November 11, 1951, to draft the Provincial Constitution. On that date, it was decided to name the province after Eva Perón. To inaugurate this new provincial name, it was decided to continue using the same recently manufactured plates but adding a small badge to cover the name "Provincia de La Pampa" and introducing the name "Provincia Eva Perón". It's not entirely clear to what extent the use of this badge was mandatory, as I know of some localities that used it, and others that didn't.

The following year, in 1953, license plates were issued with the name Eva Perón Province already stamped on the plate. Fortunately, they were issued by locality, so the variety of these plates is wide, considering that for each category, sometimes a different color combination was even chosen. They are also not easy to find. In 1954, apparently, no large-format license plates were issued. In my many visits to La Pampa, I have only found license plates with this year for bicycles and carriages . So far, I have only seen license plates with slots for placing a vertical tab in the middle of the plate belonging to the town of Rolón. I don't know if plates of this type were ever used with the year 1954. I have also not seen any from other towns other than the one mentioned with these slots.

In 1955, the local system for issuing license plates in the province of La Pampa unfortunately ended, replaced by provincial license plates. Under the name Eva Perón Province, much longer license plates were manufactured, abandoning the more square format that had been used in most cases for 17 years. The 1955 tab was made gold base color, with black lettering, and also bearing the legend "Eva Perón Province". These aluminum tabs were numbered, but this numbering had nothing to do with the license plate number. The license plate was validated with a lead seal.

When President Juan Domingo Perón was overthrown by the so-called Liberating Revolution of the new military regime, the province's original name was returned. The coup d'état took place on September 16, 1955, so it is unclear under what name the plates continued to circulate for the remainder of that year.

In 1956, these same provincial license plates continued to be used, although the aluminum tab read "Province of La Pampa" and was red base color with black lettering. A small plate with the legend "La Pampa", matching the license plate colors, was also required to cover the name "Eva Perón". To do this, two holes had to be drilled into the license plate to attach this new little plate. I have also found license plates with plates that had been cut from license plates prior to 1953, from which the words "La Pampa" were recovered. Very few plates with the tab from 1955 survived, although more than a few from 1956 do. These license plates were blue with orange numbers and letters. The province was most likely divided into sectors, or the different departments were used, giving each license plate an identifying letter on its upper left side. On the same side, but below, the categories were added: "P" for private vehicles, "C" for trucks, "CTA" for pickup trucks, "AC" for trailers, and "J" perhaps for Jeeps. Each category was given a subcategory, represented by a number from 1 to 4. Rental car license plates were colored red with white numbers.

Beginning in 1957, but before 1960, a different format was adopted for La Pampa's provincial license plates. In this case, an elongated license plate was chosen, similar to the previous blue and orange ones, but in green and black. Some claim that the first two digits identified the Department; others say the license plate number is a combination of the two groups of numbers, in this case 9153.

These light green and black license plates were manufactured by the Barthe company. Dionisio Barthe, founder of Casa Barthe, was already a state supplier before 1940, selling certified books, marriage certificates, official seals, street lamps, park benches, street names, and small license plates (for bicycles, carriages, etc.), though not for automobiles, to various municipalities. Toward the end of the 1950s, the company won its first bid to supply the province of La Pampa with these large license plates. This is recalled by his granddaughter, Inés Barthe, with whom I have spoken by phone.

Within this category of plates, there is one piece in my collection that deserves mention. It is an official solid brass plate, which, although undated, must have been used during the period of just over three and a half years when La Pampa changed its name to Eva Perón (see photo in the left column, below).

The province of La Pampa, is not the only place where license plates with Eva Perón's name on them circulated. In the province of Neuquén, the town of Cutral Co. was named after Eva Perón. The only license plates I have in my collection are from the 1954 issue. Truck license plate number 031 is unfortunately repainted, and it's unknown if it's the original colors. The other one belonged to a YPF vehicle, which, given its high numbering, would indicate the significant volume of cars, vans, and trucks moving in Cutral Co at that time.

2a.- Provincia Presidente Perón Plates:

A similar story can be told about the plates issued in the province of El Chaco (or Provincia Del Chaco). License plates were issued by locality, replacing the word Chaco with Pte. Perón.

In 1955, provincial license plates were issued, bearing a large tab with the year, along with the engine and license plate numbers of the vehicle bearing them. This was also common on license plates in this province in the past. These numbers were probably punched by hand in each municipality when the plates were delivered to the user.

After the Liberating Revolution, the legend "Provincia Pte. Perón" was covered by a plate of a similar format and color to the original plate with the name "Provincia Del Chaco" stamped on it.

There is at least one other version of this type of plate.

Just as Cutral Co, in the province of Neuquén, was provisionally named "Eva Perón", the Córdoba town of Leones was renamed "Perón". It is estimated that 1954 was the only year this plate was issued, although it was manufactured to have a vertical tab on the left side. The only plate I have in the collection is also repainted, and most likely the color combination was a black background and white numbers and letters.

This interesting piece, previously unknown to me, recently joined the collection. The Department of General Perón was created in 1950 and remained under this name until 1955, when it was renamed Malargüe, Mendoza Province. The notches indicate that there may be pieces dated after 1952. This plate has also been repainted, although it is unknown if it still has its original colors.