Pacific Wonderland (Oregon slogan)

“Pacific Wonderland” is the slogan that Oregon chose for its 100th anniversary (in 1959) and 150th anniversary (in 2009) to display on license plates. The original issue of license plates was from 1960-1964; the 2010 issue limited edition plate was offered for a $100 surcharge. “Pacific Wonderland” had been infrequently used before the issue of the license plates. In 1903, the Northern Pacific Railroad Company published the book, Wonderland 1903: Descriptive of the country contiguous to the Northern Pacific Railway.
 
A book titled Hawaii: Pacific Wonderland. was published in 1962;  New Zealand has called itself a “South Pacific Wonderland” since at least the 1950s.
   
       
Oregon DMV
The Pacific Wonderland Registration Plate
Plate Information and Fees
On February 14, 2009, the State of Oregon celebrated its 150th birthday.  In recognition of Oregon’s 150th birthday, the 2009 Oregon Legislative Assembly directed the Department of Transportation to recreate a limited edition of Oregon’s historic Pacific Wonderland registration plate.  The original plates were issued during the centennial year of 1959 and continued to 1964.
 
The new Pacific Wonderland registration plate is a limited edition plate with only 40,000 sets of plates being manufactured.  There is a one-time surcharge of $100 per set of plates paid at issuance, in addition to the $24 plate fee and regular registration fee.  There will not be any additional fee charged at the time of renewal besides the standard registration fee.
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Wonderland 1903 : descriptive of the country contiguous to the Northern Pacific Railway
Author: Olin Dunbar Wheeler; Northern Pacific Railroad Company.
Publisher: St. Paul, Minn. : Northern Pacific Railway, ©1903.
Edition/Format:  Book : English
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Pacific wonderland, a book of Australia,
Author: Charles Barrett
Publisher: London, New York, Cassell, 1942.
Edition/Format:  Book : English
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Rotorua, New Zealand : South Pacific wonderland.
Author: Whites Aviation Limited.
Publisher: Auckland, N.Z. : Whites Aviation, [1954]
Edition/Format:  Book : English
 
29 October 1959, The Oregonian (Portland, OR), pg. 10, col. 3:
License Plates
To Bear Slogan
SALEM (AP)—Oregon’s new slogan, “Pacific Wonderland,” will begin appearing on automobile license plates in January, the state Department of Motor Vehicles said Wednesday.
 
All new plates issued after Jan. 1 will contain the slogan.
 
Cars now licensed, however, won’t get new plates until 1963.
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Hawaii: Pacific wonderland.
Author: William Knowlton
Publisher: New York, Dodd, Mead [1962]
Edition/Format:  Book : Juvenile audience : English
 
OCLC WorldCat record
America the beautiful. Oregon
Author: R Conrad Stein
Publisher: Chicago : Childrens Press, ©1989.
Edition/Format:  Book : Juvenile audience : English
Summary: Introduces the geography, history, government, economy, industry, culture, historic sites, and famous people of the state known as the “Pacific Wonderland.”
 
OregonLive.com
Sequential identities
The process of branding Oregon that shapes and updates its image over the years continues as the state celebrates its sesquicentennial
Saturday, February 14, 2009
LAURA OPPENHEIMER
The Oregonian Staff
(...)
It begins with a slogan. Oregon has marketed itself as a “Pacific Wonderland” where “You’re More Than Welcome” and “Things Look Different Here.” In 2003, the team debuted “Oregon, We Love Dreamers.”
 
OregonLive.com
DMV reissues ‘Pacific Wonderland’ plates for Oregon’s 150th birthday
Published: Thursday, February 18, 2010, 8:44 PM   Updated: Thursday, February 18, 2010, 9:48 PM
By Joseph Rose, The Oregonian
Starting March 1, you can drive into Oregon’s future with a classic license plate from the past.
 
Driver and Motor Vehicle Services will debut the new version of the coveted blue and yellow Pacific Wonderland plate to celebrate 150 years of statehood.
 
“That’s the one everyone loves,” said Tamara Brown, co-owner of Oregon Plates restoration company in Redmond. “It’s still the only one that the state has stamped a slogan on.”
 
Anyone with a passenger vehicle and $100—plus regular fees of $33—can buy a set. The Oregon State Capitol Foundation and Oregon Historical Society will split the surcharge money.
 
Unlike the first Pacific Wonderland series, which celebrated Oregon’s 100th birthday from 1959 to 1964, this one is limited to 40,000 sets.