1954 was the second (and unfortunately last) year General Mills issued license plates free inside boxes of Wheaties cereal. The plates are slightly higher quality than the 1953 issue in that the edges are curled inward making them less sharp, the point being to save children's fingers from edge cuts.
The foreign series plates that had been issued late in 1953 were still available in 1954 because there were plenty left over and General Mills decided it would be better to offer the now year-old plates as sets through the mail than to just scrap them. The regular set of 49 plates were still available as they had been the year before - in groups of 12 for a box top and a fee, and if you bought all four sets at once, the plate for the District of Columbia came free with the rest.
Four plates in this set are dated 1955 because the actual state issued plates expired early in the year following their year of issue. They are Maryland, Missouri, Wisconsin, and the Discrict of Columbia. There are no 1955 Wheaties plates, all of these 1955 dated plates are a part of the regular 1954 set.
The image to the right shows the back of a Wheaties box from 1954 proudly showing off the new plate designs, most of which adhered pretty closely to the actual state issued plates for their represented jurisdiction. The plates came in three different sizes just as the 1953 plates had, with the sole difference being that all had round holes and a gold-brass colored coat on the back. No back varieties are known for these plates.
Roll over any of the images below to see the back side of that plate. Click on any image to see the front of the plate in full screen size.
Four different plates in the 1954 set are known to come in two varieties each. One with two holes at the top of the plate and another with the same colors and design, but four holes - two located at the top and two at the bottom.
Scarcity among these varieties leans toward the four-hole plates being slightly less common for Indiana, Michigan and Minnesota, while the two-hole variety is far less common for the New Mexico issue. Any specific purpose for these varieties is not known.
Although reports of other error plates are known for this issue, the only one we have seen to date is a single Minnesota plate with no edge-curling. It seems to have missed that stage in production. It is likely not an intended variety because no other specimens are known, and no other known 1954 dated plates show this anomaly.
