# Missouri and Wisconsin - most forgettable US states **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 12, 2009, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558 "2009-10-12T18:23:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/41 "2009-10-12T23:55:11Z")
Walt Disney lived for a while in Missouri. Disney publicists say his “boyhood home” was Marceline, Missouri. “Boyhood home” is stretching it a little bit; more like, lived there for a few years between the ages of 7ish - 13ish. ---
**Author:** ![wunderkammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ed8c4c/32.png) [@wunderkammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wunderkammer)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/42 "2009-10-12T23:55:31Z")
Wisconsin wins by[ten million hits.](http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=wisconsin&word2=missouri) We invented The Onion. We have Neil Gaiman and had Elizabeth Zimmermann, holy evangelist of knitting. And serial killers and bubblers. And a big, inexplicable soda enclave in the middle of pop country. I was going to come in here to post my least memorable state, but I realized that that’s impossible because of my excellent education. Did anyone else have to learn “Fifty Nifty United States” in grade school? Am I the only one to get the tune stuck in my head whenever I see an alphabetical list of states, even though twelve or thirteen years have passed? I guess I’ll just admit that I don’t really know the difference between Tennessee and Kentucky. So there. ---
**Author:** ![Fetchund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b2d939/32.png) [@Fetchund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fetchund)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/43 "2009-10-12T23:56:41Z")
Wisconsin - for me it is: Wolves and great clean rivers for kayaking. My favorite state to vacation in. Lakes Michigan and Superior. For most folks - bar to bar snowmobile trails! ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/44 "2009-10-13T00:00:47Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > That’s why I went with alphabetical order. And I still got stuck on Connecticut for a few seconds, and Minnesota for as long as you probably got stuck on Massachusetts. (I didn’t want to skip them.) I guess I’ve gotten too reliant on the little red squigglies: I tried Conecticut and Minisota. Connecticut was easy enough for me considering I am within 50 miles of it. It’s gotten me to thinking about what states I haven’t been to. I haven’t even been through about 10 of them, but if I count only passing through them as not legitimately having been there it gets up to about 20 states. Usually I use the ‘spent the night’ criteria but that is problematic. What if you spend the night at a roadside inn and see nothing vs what if you don’t spend the night there but you spend a day exploring? I’d like to travel down south some more. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/45 "2009-10-13T00:17:12Z")
> [@2ply](#): > > california produces more cheese, but wisconsin produces more varieties of cheese. they have some damn good cheese. Actually, Wisconsin’s total cheese production still exceeds California’s. [http://www.agriview.com/articles/2009/06/11/dairy\_news/dairy08.txt](http://www.agriview.com/articles/2009/06/11/dairy_news/dairy08.txt) ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/46 "2009-10-13T00:33:39Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Delaware, on the other hand, being the second smallest, I always forget about. Delaware is the only state where I have never, ever met anyone who was actually from it. Me and several co-workers were discussing this and agreed on that point. We then decided we were more than halfway certain that it didn’t really exist and was perhaps just a geographic fantasy. I personally even have my doubts [New Sweden](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Sweden) ever existed. New Sweden? Give me a break - how unlikely is that? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/47 "2009-10-13T00:34:16Z")
Wisconsin went from major producer of hops to a crash in 1868 due to pestilence and bad weather. [Historical Account](http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/wlhba/articleView.asp?pg=1&orderby=&id=15948&pn=1&key=&cy=) [Historical account](http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/wlhba/articleView.asp?pg=1&id=3929&key=hops&cy=) [Picture of hop pickers](http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/whi/fullimage.asp?id=2199) ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/48 "2009-10-13T00:36:30Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Actually, Wisconsin’s total cheese production still exceeds California’s. > > [http://www.agriview.com/articles/2009/06/11/dairy\_news/dairy08.txt](http://www.agriview.com/articles/2009/06/11/dairy_news/dairy08.txt) In fact California lost a major cheese producer. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/49 "2009-10-13T00:55:43Z")
Any more, whenever I’m trying to name all 50 states, I go by the regions they were divided up into on [538.com](http://538.com) last year. New England: 1 Maine 2 Vermont 3 New Hampshire 4 Massachusetts 5 Rhode Island 6 Connecticut Acela: 7 New York 8 New Jersey 9 Delaware 10 Maryland (District of Columbia) South Coast: 11 Virginia 12 North Carolina 13 South Carolina 14 Georgia 15 Florida Gulf Coast: 16 Alabama 17 Mississippi 18 Louisiana 19 Texas Rust Belt: 20 Pennsylvania 21 Ohio 22 Indiana 23 Michigan Highlands: 24 West Virginia 25 Kentucky 26 Tennessee 27 Arkansas 28 Missouri 29 Oklahoma (though I would have put them in the Plains category) North Central: 30 Illinois 31 Wisconsin 32 Minnesota 33 Iowa Great Plains: 34 Kansas 35 Nebraska 36 South Dakota 37 North Dakota Southwest: 38 New Mexico 39 Colorado 40 Arizona 41 Nevada Mountain West: 42 Montana 43 Idaho 44 Wyoming 45 Utah 46 Alaska Pacific Coast: 47 California 48 Oregon 49 Washington 50 Hawaii > [@](#): > > I haven’t even been through about 10 of them, but if I count only passing through them as not legitimately having been there it gets up to about 20 states. Usually I use the ‘spent the night’ criteria but that is problematic. What if you spend the night at a roadside inn and see nothing vs what if you don’t spend the night there but you spend a day exploring? I’d like to travel down south some more. The criterion my sister came up with, and which I also use, is that a state counts if you’ve both bought something there, and used the restroom. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/50 "2009-10-13T00:58:40Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > Great stuff here people, thanks. Lest we never forget. > > To sum up: > > Wisconsin > Beer > Cheese > Cranberries > Frank Lloyd Wright > Harry Houdini > Lakes > Milwaukee Also, werewolves. [http://www.w-files.com/Journal/wisconsin-werewolves.html](http://www.w-files.com/Journal/wisconsin-werewolves.html) ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/51 "2009-10-13T01:38:41Z")
Huh. People are mentioning St. Louis and their sports teams, so I’ll go ahead and mention Kansas City. The Royals and the Chiefs (because someone has to root for them), Arthur Bryant’s BBQ, Gates BBQ, jazz, the Negro League Baseball Museum, organized crime - they have it all! ---
**Author:** ![gravitycrash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@gravitycrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gravitycrash)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/52 "2009-10-13T01:42:41Z")
I think Missouri is still #1 in meth production, so we have that going for us if you’re into that sort of thing. And yeah, we in St. Louis have a bit of an inferiority complex but that is partially due to the abortion across the river (East St. Louis). That is in Illinois though, so it doesn’t count. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/53 "2009-10-13T01:55:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Walt Disney lived for a while in Missouri. Disney publicists say his “boyhood home” was Marceline, Missouri. “Boyhood home” is stretching it a little bit; more like, lived there for a few years between the ages of 7ish - 13ish. True, but “The Town Where Walt First Masturbated” isn’t the kind of thing you’d want on a billboard. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/54 "2009-10-13T02:23:38Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Rhode Island’s easy because it’s the smallest. You can just go “what’s the smallest state?” Delaware, on the other hand, being the second smallest, I always forget about. Other than being the first to ratify the constitution (by four days, big whoop), it’s got nothing. The biggest advantage is has is that for awhile I though Baltimore was in Delaware. I always thought Delaware was in Baltimore. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/55 "2009-10-13T03:12:14Z")
No, silly, Delaware is in Philadelphia. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/56 "2009-10-13T03:28:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Any more, whenever I’m trying to name all 50 states, I go by the regions they were divided up into on [538.com](http://538.com) last year. Now that’s a good memory. I only remember the states in alphabetical order because of a song I learned in grade school that was repeatedly pounded into my head. I still occasionally teach it to kids. BTW, anybody else heard of [“Fifty Nifty United States”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_HeLofy7IE)? It’s the first autocomplete suggestion in Firefox when I try to Google the word fifty. (Sorry to link you to the earsplitting fake kids version instead of the Ray Charles version that I can’t find) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/57 "2009-10-13T10:09:22Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > True, but “The Town Where Walt First Masturbated” isn’t the kind of thing you’d want on a billboard. I wonder if he was thinking about a mouse, at the time…😃 ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/58 "2009-10-13T14:13:59Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Now that’s a good memory. I only remember the states in alphabetical order because of a song I learned in grade school that was repeatedly pounded into my head. I still occasionally teach it to kids. > > BTW, anybody else heard of [“Fifty Nifty United States”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_HeLofy7IE)? It’s the first autocomplete suggestion in Firefox when I try to Google the word fifty. (Sorry to link you to the earsplitting fake kids version instead of the Ray Charles version that I can’t find) See post #42 - and yes, I also memorized that song in fifth grade and have never forgotten it. It’s quite handy as a bar trick. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/59 "2009-10-13T14:52:53Z")
> [@myskepticsight](#): > > Well your lake is a lot deeper. But Table Rock is man-made and it gets up to 200 feet deep. Considering the normal number I see on our boat’s depth finder in MO is between 0-20, Table Rock is deep. Isn’t Missouri unique in that every lake in the state is man made? No natural lakes at all, or so I think I remember. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558/60 "2009-10-13T15:03:27Z")
I was born in Wisconsin and I am neither a Republican or serial killer. That 70’s Show, Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley were set in Wisconsin, however That 70’s Show was set in a fictional city. The Wisconsin Dells, look it up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-and-wisconsin-most-forgettable-us-states/513558.md?page=4)