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Everyone knows that states have their own official flags, seals, flowers, songs, mottoes and so on. But some states have an official something for just about every category you can come up with. Here are a few facts that I found interesting… hopefully you do, too.
1. Arkansas, California, Delaware, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin are among the states that have declared milk their official state beverage. Alabama, on the other hand, went with Conecuh Ridge Whiskey.
2. The New Mexico Official State Amphibian is the Spadefoot Frog. How cute is this thing?
3. Kansas’ state toy is the Etch-a-Sketch… which is a registered trademark of the Ohio Art Company. The only other states to declare an official state toy are Pennsylvania (the Slinky) and Mississippi (the teddy bear).
4. North Carolina goes so far as to specify a state red berry. Not just a fruit, not just a berry – a red berry. It’s the strawberry, in case you were wondering. The state fruit is the Scuppernong Grape.
5. Oklahoma has declared all kinds of state foods. Here’s the list: Barbequed pork, chicken fried steak, sausage, biscuits and gravy, fried okra, squash, grits, corn, black-eyed peas, cornbread, pecan pie, strawberries and watermelon (which they have declared the state vegetable).
6. Iowa’s official bird is the American Goldfinch. This isn’t particularly of note, except for the fact that Rob Lowe was playing in a celebrity golf tournament in Des Moines last year and managed to kill our state bird with a good drive. What are the odds? I’m going to ignore his attire in this photo. Photo by Tim Hudspeth, TMZ.
7. Texas is a big state, so I suppose it makes sense that it has a big list of state foods as well. It even differentiates between the Official State Pepper and the Official State Native Pepper: Jalapeno and chiltepin, respectively.
8. Utah’s Official State Snack Food is Jell-O. They should use that in their marketing. “Jell-O: The Official Snack Food of Utah.”
9. Most states have adopted fairly cute insects to represent their state: the European honeybee, the Monarch butterfly and the 7-Spotted Ladybug all make multiple lists. But South Carolina opted to declare the Carolina Mantis as their official state insect. They do have a state butterfly as well – the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.
10. Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Washington all lay claim to the Square Dance as the “Official State Dance”. Wisconsin and Pennsylvania share the polka, Kentucky and North Carolina share clogging, and Louisiana and New York are in classes of their own with Second Line and the Lindy Hop, respectively. North Carolina also claims the Carolina Shag. Texas, you ask? The Texas Two-Step, of course.
Comments (28)
Comment
- Follow mental_floss
I live in Illinois and will NEVER recognize the Square Dance as my Official State Dance. That is just ludicrous
posted by Andy on 9-10-2008 at 2:40 pm
At an awards banquet I attended everyone was making small talk and getting acquainted. One couple was from South Carolina where I had lived recently and we were talking trivia about the state. I said to the woman that I’d not known that states had “state dances’ and was amused to find that South Carolina’s was the Shag. She replied, “Oh yes. As a matter of fact my husband is a really good shagger.” I pride myself on having kept a straight face following that announcement!
posted by Alice on 9-10-2008 at 2:49 pm
I can’t believe you left off the Hawaii State Fish- the humuhumunukunukuapua’a. Can’t get a better name than that!
posted by joanna on 9-10-2008 at 2:56 pm
Here’s a couple more…
“Hang on Sloopy” is the official rock song of Ohio.
The bear on the official California state flag is the result of a misunderstanding. It was supposed to be a pear.
posted by Jason! on 9-10-2008 at 2:58 pm
New Mexico has it’s own state question: Red or Green?
posted by Evan on 9-10-2008 at 3:45 pm
Silly North Carolinians, strawberries aren’t berries! They’re accessory fruits. Blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, raspberries, and boysenberries aren’t berries, either. Grapes, tomatoes, avocados, and chili peppers, however, are berries.
posted by Kevin H on 9-10-2008 at 3:50 pm
As a life-long Oklahoman, I vote we just declare all food the State Food, since listing individual food items is time consuming. I wonder what our rank is on the national obesity-by-state poll.
rC: 2.1 worse
posted by adrienne on 9-10-2008 at 3:51 pm
@Jason! (The bear on the official California state flag is the result of a misunderstanding. It was supposed to be a pear.)
False. This is claimed at Snopes (snopes.com/lost/bearflag.asp) but if you click “More Information about this page” at the bottom, you’ll see this is one of several “spoof” articles on the site. Also see museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/weblog/comments/3765/ for the real story.
posted by Jeff on 9-10-2008 at 4:15 pm
Illinois also has a state fossil…the Tully Monster
….I have no idea.
posted by bedhead on 9-10-2008 at 4:48 pm
Ah… I was taken in. How embarrasking…
http://www.snopes.com/lost/false.asp
The Official Ohio State Rock song is true though:
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1878
posted by Jason! on 9-10-2008 at 4:49 pm
Not only does Nebraska have an official state beverage in milk, it also has an official state soft drink: Kool Aid (it was invented in Hastings, Nebraska).
Strangely, they were both declared “official” during the same year (1998), but milk was named the beverage in May, and Kool Aid got its honored mantle in September. My guess is that milk was for some reason named the beverage, and Nebraskans, not having much else to get worked up about (it not being football season), protested that it wasn’t our very own Kool Aid.
Kool Aid makes more sense to me. The University of Nebraska (where my info comes from) says that milk is so honored because dairy is an important part of Nebraska’s ag economy. I’m not really sure I buy that–but there must have been more official dairy lobbyists in the state than Kool Aid lobbyists.
posted by kate on 9-10-2008 at 4:59 pm
Sorry, all I could think about was the nerd kid in Wet Hot American Summer:
“My name is Keith Stat from Millburn, New Jersey. State bird, the mosquito.”
posted by brooke on 9-10-2008 at 5:18 pm
I am a native Texan and let me tell you there is a HUGE difference between “native” and “non native” to a Texan. Call it too much state pride… or perhaps just enough.
posted by Vanessa on 9-10-2008 at 6:20 pm
Not as cute as the Hypnotoad.
Nothing is as cute as the Hypnotoad.
posted by BlogDog on 9-10-2008 at 6:36 pm
In elementary school in South Carolina, all children are taught the steps to the Carolina Shag. Most Carolinians will tell you that the shag is the state dance, not the polka.
posted by Val on 9-10-2008 at 8:58 pm
Did I read it wrong, or did no one else notice that Oklahoma declared watermelon as its state vegetable?
posted by ErinM on 9-10-2008 at 10:28 pm
As a proud Ohioan, and a Buckeye fan…Hang on sloopy is near and dear to us. Hang on sloopy, sloopy hang on! O! H! I! O!
posted by Shannon on 9-10-2008 at 11:38 pm
ErinM: I had to read it twice to make sure, too. I was about to be embarrassed, what with being from Oklahoma and all, then I looked it up. Seems watermelon is a fruit AND a vegetable. Or something. Click on my name.
posted by adrienne on 9-11-2008 at 12:49 am
maryland’s state sport is jousting!!!
Yeah. We’re badass like that
posted by Caitlin on 9-11-2008 at 7:53 am
As a Kentuckian, I’d like to open the floor to the consideration of replacing milk with Bourbon…
posted by Roger on 9-11-2008 at 8:26 am
To Kevin H., you forgot the pineapple.
posted by Sara on 9-11-2008 at 12:34 pm
California has a state fossil, too! Saber-toothed cat; how cool is that?!
We also have a state prehistoric artifact: a piece of volcanic rock chipped to look like a bear.
And official state soil…*shrug*
Click on my name for more at the state website; it’s goes on and on. :)
posted by frodopal on 9-11-2008 at 4:20 pm
Massachusetts tried to establish the “Fluffernutter” as the state sandwich a few years back. Durkee-Mower is the manufacturer of marshmallow fluff and is located in Lynn, MA.
posted by John on 9-11-2008 at 5:11 pm
Arkansas has a state soil (Stuttgart), rock (bauxite), mineral (quartz) and gemstone (diamond).
posted by EEB on 9-11-2008 at 8:39 pm
Do you happen to have a source for the Etch-a-Sketch being the official state toy of Kansas? I’m trying to run that down and I think it may be a hoax.
posted by Paul Paquet on 9-12-2008 at 8:22 am
Really, Nebraska, milk? Why have we not officiated the whole darn cow? Nebraska beef cannot be beaten, except, maybe by Kobi beef. Mmm massaged cow.
posted by Taryn on 9-12-2008 at 8:32 am
Gotta love Massachusetts. State dog: Boston Terrier. State dessert: Boston creme pie.
posted by Cassie on 9-12-2008 at 10:11 pm
In California… we have:
“The California Consolidated Drum Band was designated the official state fife and drum corps in 1997″
State Colors: Blue and Gold
State Dance: West Coast Swing Dancing
State FOLK Dance: Square Dance
State Gold Rush Ghost Town: Bodie
State Theater: Pasadena Playhouse
More at:
http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/California/StateSymbols.html
posted by Sarah on 1-19-2009 at 2:24 pm