Up to the plate
Bigelow resident has more than 4,000 license plates
Lee Nutt started collecting license plates by following in the footsteps of his dad, who had his own collection in his garage.
“He had plates from 1918 up through the 1940s in there,” Nutt (pronounced Newt) said. “They were nailed up in his truck shed, and I took it from there.
“I put them up in my buildings, and I’ve got license plates from all 50 states, a couple of times over. I’ve got plates from Mexico and Canada — I’ve got license plates from all over the world.”
Nutt estimates that he has more than 4,000 license plates at his house in Bigelow.
“I’ve got some interesting plates,” Nutt said. “It is neat to me. If I see a plate that I don’t have yet, I will write a little note on it and tell them what I do and what I collect, and if there is any expense to it, I will pay it for them.
“I enjoy doing it. I’ve also got some rocks that come out of a rock quarry that are shaped like certain states. I put a license plate that would correspond like that state — it is fun, and I enjoy it.”
Nutt said he has all the states several times over, including antique plates from Arkansas. He said he has a wagon and buggy license plate from 1901 in Little Rock. He said he keeps it locked up to keep it safe.
“You just have to see all of them to appreciate it,” he said.
Nutt graduated from Bigelow High School in 1954. After graduating from high school, he was in the Army and was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, where he served for three years.
“I’ve been blessed, and I’ve had a good life, and the Lord has been good to me,” Nutt said.
Nutt said he was a part of Future Farmers of America while in high school and
had a good agriculture teacher.
“He worked with me and helped me to the state and county fairs,” Nutt said.
During high school, Nutt had a classmate living on the farm that he owns now. He said he fell in love with the place. So while he was stationed in Okinawa, Nutt’s dad mortgaged his own place to get the down payment, which was $12,000. Nutt said getting the farm was a dream come true.
On his 300 acre farm, he has 25 cows and calves, and until recently, he raised soy beans, hay and corn.
“I grew up on my dad’s farm, and I know the challenges he went through,” Nutt said. “I enjoyed what I did on the farm — I fell in love with this place.”
Nutt said that when he first got the farm, he would work from sunup to sundown because he “had the ambition to keep going.” He said, “If you want to do something bad enough, you’ll do it.”
“I did the first year by myself,” Nutt said. “I was sheering sheep and would go all over the state. I had the will power to go; that’s how I stayed with it. My social activities were dead, but I was completely satisfied.”
Diane Gottsponer, chairwoman for the annual St. Boniface Catholic Church Bazaar in New Dixie, said the Nutt family helped build the church, which was established in 1879. Nutt and his brother Max have assisted with the bazaar by cooking the meat.
“He has three buildings on his property where he collects antiques,” Gottsponer said.
“This man has things from the 1800s that still work. He has a washing machine that doesn’t even look like a washing machine. … We go to church together, and I called him this past fall and asked him what he was doing, and he said, ‘I’m shaking the pecans out of a tree. … He is a wonderful person, and he is a very interesting guy,” she said.
“I’ve got all kinds of antiques, and I came up on the horse-and-wagon stuff when I was a kid, Nutt said.
“I collect horse-drawn equipment, and I got things from my grandpa. A couple of buildings have stuff that I have collected or bought at sales,” he said. “Horse-drawn equipment has always peeked my interest. … The old-timers had it tough, just with hand tools in general.
“My dad told me how they used boll-weevil catchers as a kid and had to get [the boll weevils] out of the cotton. … I’ve just got all kinds of things out there.”
Nutt, who will turn 84 in May, married Sherry Sue McKinney more than 50 years ago.
“She is the best wife I have ever had,” he said, joking. “She has put up with me for so long.” The couple have a daughter, Dixie Leigh, and three grandkids.
“I didn’t ever throw anything away. I just collected it all, and I have made some good memories,” Nutt said.
I didn’t ever throw anything away. I just collected it all, and I have made some good memories.”
Lee Nutt BIGELOW COLLECTOR