A 1942 plate would have been used in 1942, 43, 44 and 45. You would get a 1942 plate like this in 1942, then in 1943 due to the metal shortage there was a metal Validation Tab attached to cover the 42. It was white with a red "V" in it. Then in 1944 you received a validation sticker, not sure if this was pasted on the plate. From 1945 to 1955 there were metal Validation Tabs with year on them, then stickers. If I had a 1943-1945 trailer I think it would be cool to mount a "V" tab on a plate like this. This one came with those aluminum tabs shown in the picture.
PT prefix was used in those days for trailer plates. It stood for Pneumatic Tire. There were also ST plates which stood for Standard Tire.
CA DMV has a Year of Manufacture program for using vintage plates on vehicles. There is a downloadable YOM form on their website. It is here:
https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/?s=YOM
I talked to a DMV rep and she said this plate is OK to assign to a trailer. Take the form and I assume the plate to DMV. Pretty sure you don't include the PT prefix when writing the license number. Check Box 1.
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