Well, here in New York, Governor Pataki has just declared that our state quarter will be a copy of Massachusetts’s, except with the Statue of Liberty replacing the Minuteman and, of course, our state border outline instead of theirs. I wish he had gone with the “Manhattan Skyline” design; it was unique, and it’s one of New York State’s most beautiful sights, especially at night. But of course, he had to throw a bone to the upstaters, who weren’t even satisfied with that.
The State Quarters have pretty much fallen into two categories: 1) The state’s colonial-era history, 2) the state outline plus a well-recognized artifact. I’d love to see a more original idea soon.
I’m seriously hoping to see the following on Ohio’s quarter: pictures of Thomas Edison and the Wright brothers, with the slogan “Birthplace of Invention.”
What do you folks think of that idea? Any quarter designs you’d like to see?
P.S. I forgot to say, cmkeller, that I think your idea for Ohio is very appropriate. Don’t forget to send it in to the state quarter design committee for Ohio! I believe you’ve got a winner.
Outline of the state. Everywhere in the state except Seattle are people preparing weapons and pointing them at South Puget Sound. And in Seattle, a guy with a goatee is frantically summoning help on his Palm VII; he’s being defended by a woman wearing Doc Martens and a ring in her eyebrow. Both are sitting in a BMW Z3 with the top down.
Oh, and in Olympia, there’s a fat, oblivious man holding a martini and surveyor’s tape.
This thread reminds me of the story I once heard about Maine’s license plates.
About 20 years ago, when the idea of putting a state icon on a license plate was just catching on, there was a huge debate between the fishermen and the farmers. The fishermen, of course wanted a lobster. The farmers, arguing that lobster-fishing is miniscule compared to potato farming in Maine, wanted a potato.
The debate raged on and on, until the proverbial cooler heads realized that the proposed potato silhouette would look like a big brown ink blob at best, and a you-know-what at worst. Maine license plates sport a lobster to this day.
As for NY quarters, even I think the skyline idea would have been a little to NYC-centric, and I live here. The SOL was an okay choice, but Niagara Falls was my pet dark horse favorite.
North “First in Flight” Carolina already has the Wright Brothers covered–its quarter, in 2001, will feature a picture of the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk.
Several years ago when this idea was first approved the Style Invitational column in the Sunday Washington Post actually ran a humorous contest asking people to write in with their suggestions for state logos.
The only one I remember clearly is “Vermont. We’re the ones on the left. NO! Wait…right. The ones on the left.”
Seriously, I dunno. For Minnesota, I’m betting we’ll have Paul Bunyan; for Missouri, I’m betting it’ll be the Arch. (I live in both places, hence the double replies.)
What I’d like to see…well, I don’t think either idea will get approved, but here goes. For Minnesota: just a blank back. That’s it. You know - it’s International Falls in a blizzard. For Missouri…I think a very small rendition of American Gothic would be in order.
I will reiterate that if Tennessee’s quarter has anything at all to do with Vols football or NASCAR, I am going to have to start on my state-wide murder spree.
Isn’t the Statue Of Liberty technically in New Jersey? I thought for sure they’d go with the Empire State Building.
I’m already working on a design for the California one. I think it should commemorate El Camino Real, the road that connects all the missions in the state. It’s really one of the few things that northern and southern California have in common. Golden Gate Bridge? Yeah, everyone’s familiar with it, but I still consider it a local landmark. The Gold Rush? A cop-out if you ask me. California has a lot of history prior to the Gold Rush that most people, especially outside the state, don’t know about. The Gold Rush just marks when white people came and took over.
My original idea was to just have a picture of one of the missions, but then I saw that the Texas quarter comes out about six or seven months before California. And you just know they’re gonna put the Alamo on theirs.
[stupid on] I think Indiana should put an outline of the state and have a big star right where Lynn, IN is, and say “The birthplace of Jim Jones” or have some casual reference to kool-aid.
