Who Knew Drivers' Licenses Were So Much Fun?

Came across a book that had sample driver's licenses and IDs from all of the different states. One of the things that struck me right away were the photos. Such as these:



The states obviously didn't use models for these samples...just very ordinary-looking people. But who are they? How did were they chosen? Are they DMV workers, relatives, people off the street? I doubt that a state could just pick a random photo from its database without permission. Which means someone chose this guy as a representative of the people of Louisiana:

Sometimes attention to detail was a bit lacking:

A very attractive young woman...but does she really look like she was born in 1955 like her ID says she was? That's one bad fake ID...but someone would probably sell her beer anyway.

Then there were the names used on the licenses. There were many variations on "Test" and "Sample," often using Ima for the first name, as in "Ima Tennessee Sample." Clever! :-p

Sometimes they had a first name, like "Suzy Sample," who apparently lives in Ohio, New Mexico, and South Dakota. There were plenty of John Q. Publics and John/Jane Does. Michigan got a little ambitious, going with "John Doe Public." Then there are the imaginative folks in Wisconsin:

Say hello to Ginny Zzzdoties. Odd how her picture actually seems to fit the name!


Look! It's Mary Safety! I guess maybe I should be more careful when I'm driving! And then there's the name made up by a grumpy DMV worker, ID BEHIND LINE. Do NOT come past that line until your name is called!!!

Well, I thought our friends from Canada had it together when I saw these examples:


Nicely put together, they obviously used models, gave them realistic names...but then there's this guy:

That's right, John Q. Public from Manitoba, rockin' a 'stache that would make the Louisiana License Guy proud! I guess it really is one big beautiful world, isn't it?