# Resolved: Delaware Does not Exist **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 22, 2000, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-delaware-does-not-exist/30358 "2000-08-22T21:33:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chance_the_Gardener)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2000, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-delaware-does-not-exist/30358/81 "2000-10-01T21:50:13Z")
**Little Nemo** said that Boris Badenov is from Delaware, but I know that’s not true. He’s actually from McKeesport, Pennsylvania, which is subtly alluded to in one episode of _Rocky & Bullwinkle_. Badenov claims to live in Pottsylvania, a nation whose population is entirely made up of spies. He actually does, but the country is not actually called Pottsylvania. No one knows what it really is called; this is a secret and is not for general knowledge. This being said, if Pottsylvania can pull it off, then maybe this “Delaware” can, too. I vaguely recall having been in someplace called “Delaware,” but now I’m not so sure. There is reason to believe that Delaware sometimes calls itself _Nebraska_—for security reasons that are undisclosed by order of the governor’s office in Linc— er, Dover. ---
**Author:** ![andygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@andygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andygirl)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2000, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-delaware-does-not-exist/30358/82 "2000-10-01T22:56:20Z")
I was the youth governor of Delaware. Does this mean I was involved in the conspiracy of a ficticious body? cool. ---
**Author:** ![Eo\_Echo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ebca7d/32.png) [@Eo\_Echo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eo_Echo)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2000, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-delaware-does-not-exist/30358/83 "2000-10-02T05:01:29Z")
I once had a drunken weekend in New Castle. Although I must admit to a burning curiousity as to the whereabouts of the old castle. ---
**Author:** ![andygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@andygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andygirl)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2000, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-delaware-does-not-exist/30358/84 "2000-10-02T05:07:27Z")
The old castle was destroyed in the first Chicken Uprising. (1843-1846). The media, being anti-Chicken bigots, immediately supressed all information pertaining to the uprising, which enslaved the chickens for another hundred years before the second Uprising… but Delaware remembers. You can hear the chickens whispering in the fields at night… someday, someday… ---
**Author:** ![Eo\_Echo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ebca7d/32.png) [@Eo\_Echo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eo_Echo)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2000, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-delaware-does-not-exist/30358/85 "2000-10-02T05:28:55Z")
First of all, I’ll sleep much better now knowing this. And second, why has there been no memorial fund, no scholarship, no day of rememberance in the name of the Great Chicken Uprising? I’m tempted to write my congressman. As soon as I finish this beer. (note to Julie of New Castle: feel free to Fed Ex my underwear back at your own convenience.) ---
**Author:** ![andygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@andygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andygirl)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2000, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-delaware-does-not-exist/30358/86 "2000-10-02T05:59:39Z")
Ah, but there is a scholarship. As I am the historian of the Great Chickens, they named a scholarship in my honor. Send any and all contributions to: andygirl Hinman Box 1085 Dartmouth College Hanover, NH 03755 Not tax deductible, but I’ll mail you a cookie… ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2000, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-delaware-does-not-exist/30358/87 "2000-10-02T18:12:44Z")
> [@](#): > > **andygirl** wrote: > I was the youth governor of Delaware. Yeah. And I am the Great and Powerful Oz. ---
**Author:** ![andygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@andygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andygirl)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2000, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-delaware-does-not-exist/30358/88 "2000-10-02T18:25:46Z")
Actually, I was. Youth in Government is a YMCA program wherein a bunch of kids take over the state leg hall for a weekend. I did it for four year, and in my final year I was the youth governor. I got to go to a conference in DC, make a bunch of speeches, and sign mock bills from Governor Carper’s desk. Good stuff. Just for that, I’m going to call you Oz. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2000, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-delaware-does-not-exist/30358/89 "2000-10-02T19:56:06Z")
Let us not forget the world of baseball… DeLino DeShields was almost DeRookie of DeYear and _he’s_ from DeLaware… ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2000, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-delaware-does-not-exist/30358/90 "2000-10-09T18:46:01Z")
> [@](#): > > …sign mock bills… Heck, that’s just exactly what the “real” governor of “Delaware” does! ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2000, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-delaware-does-not-exist/30358/91 "2000-10-09T18:50:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Polycarp \* > **We toured the John Dickinson homestead – and I’m surprised that a bunch of free spirits like this board’s denizens haven’t brought him up yet** Last July all nine thousand-plus of us got together and swore a solemn pledge NEVER to mention John Dickinson on the SDMB. We signed our UserNames in blood and everything. It was WAY cool. I think you may have been on vacation or something. We asked after you, anyhow. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2000, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-delaware-does-not-exist/30358/92 "2000-10-10T08:15:06Z")
If Delaware doesn’t exist, then how could Allen Funt have closed the place for a day? ---
**Author:** ![Gabz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/838e76/32.png) [@Gabz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gabz)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-delaware-does-not-exist/30358/93 "2000-10-15T05:41:51Z")
If no one wants to believe the existence of the State of Delaware - that is fine by me. Tonight, I wish the State of Delaware and Dover Air Force Base did not exist. The first of the men and women we lost on the USS Cole came home today - and they hit American soil in Dover, Delaware and I have not stopped crying. MY prayers are with the families of the men and women on that ship and the men and women in any American uniform and their families. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-delaware-does-not-exist/30358/94 "2000-10-16T00:51:08Z")
And so, this thread becomes yet another victim of Middle Eastern terrorism… ---
**Author:** ![L714](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dec6dc/32.png) [@L714](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/L714)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-delaware-does-not-exist/30358/95 "2000-10-16T12:37:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by uberDave \* > \*\* > But, if you’d ask me, our most favorite son (and most famous) is that slide guitar playin’ boy George Thorogood. Of George Thorogood and the (Delaware) Destroyers. Surely, any blues lovin’ rocker has heard of him. \*\* I was clicking down and would have disappointed if no one knew George. Boy, anybody who has seen the Destroyers play in Delaware, knows very well that it surely does exist! ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-delaware-does-not-exist/30358/96 "2000-10-16T17:50:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by L714 \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by uberDave \* > > \*\* > > But, if you’d ask me, our most favorite son (and most famous) is that slide guitar playin’ boy George Thorogood. Of George Thorogood and the (Delaware) Destroyers. Surely, any blues lovin’ rocker has heard of him. \*\* > > I was clicking down and would have disappointed if no one knew George. Boy, anybody who has seen the Destroyers play in Delaware, knows very well that it surely does exist! \*\* OK, we’ve had a couple of people raise the “But George Thorogood is from there!” argument. Let’s examine the evidence:[ol][li]George Thorgood begins recording music as “George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers”[/li][li]Thorogood then drops “Delaware” from the name and records as simply "George Thorogood and the Destroyers[/ol][/li] Why the change? A couple of possible scenarios:[ul][li]George’s group was a New Jersey bar band recruited by the DuPont Corporation to help perpetuate the “Delaware Lie”. When he had served his purpose, DuPont cut off funding. In a fit of pique, George responded by dropping “Delaware” from the band name. He stopped short of exposing the lie, for fear of violent retribution by the various shadowy figures behind the fraud.[/li][li]George, knowing full well that Delaware doesn’t actually exist, named his band after the fictional state as a sort of hipper-than-thou inside joke. However, after a long parade of clueless interviewers peppered him with questions about his “home state,” he grew tired of the mental strain of perpetuating the gag, and gave it up.[/ul][/li] Can any of the Delaware proponents come up with a better explanation for George distancing himself from his purported “Delaware” roots? ---
**Author:** ![Racer\_Named\_Fisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecc23a/32.png) [@Racer\_Named\_Fisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Racer_Named_Fisk)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-delaware-does-not-exist/30358/97 "2001-04-22T20:06:59Z")
OK, my brother once wrote an artice about this: To quote: > [@](#): > > Delaware itself is an idiosyncrasy of federalism; by all rights, it should be part of Maryland, not an independent entity with two votes in the Senate. For the full dope on Delaware, check out the entire article here: [http://www.tnr.com/archive/0898/080398/diarist080398.html](http://www.tnr.com/archive/0898/080398/diarist080398.html) Note that the first paragraph, while entertaining and informative, is not about Delaware. Read it anyway! Then keep reading till you get to the Delaware part. 🙂 Enjoy! ---
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-delaware-does-not-exist/30358/98 "2001-04-22T22:22:10Z")
Thanks for the link, Fisk. I read through the thread, since I was going to Delaware next week and wanted to know if it was still there. Then came the references to Dover Downs and the nascar race, the accounts of the race itself, and I’m saying WTF? That’s when I checked the dates and found this thread was begun last year . . . ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2001, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-delaware-does-not-exist/30358/99 "2001-04-23T03:58:45Z")
Harrumph. More Delawarians checking in: **Tranq** , **hedra** , and **epeepunk**. Items of proof: - Dover AFB, home of Air Mobility Command (Formerly Millitary Airlift Command). - Perdue Chicken. - The Bob. - DuPont. - The Hotel DuPont. - AstraZeneca. - Applied Card Systems. - MBNA. - CitiBank. - FirstUnion Bank. - Chesapeke and Delaware Canal (deviding line between upper DE and sLower DE). - Incorporation 18 hours a day, 364 days a year, including “while you wait” incorporation. - University of DE. - Lonesome George: He only uses “Delaware Destroyers” when playing in DE. Nobody else is good enough to get the full name. - Blue Rock-hen: An extinct fighting bird, used to be for cock-fighting. As for those of you wishing to see a Delaware license plate, you’ve no idea the horror that awaits you: It’s the ugliest thing ever deliberately designed by humans. Oh, and DE is the only state east of the Mason-Dixon line. The final proof? If you’ve a Roth IRA, then You’ve bet your retirement on the existance of Delaware: It was invented by Sen. Bill Roth (R-DE). ---
**Author:** ![patrick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b2d939/32.png) [@patrick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/patrick)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2001, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-delaware-does-not-exist/30358/100 "2001-04-23T22:31:02Z")
I must’ve got to this post pretty late, too. I know that Delaware has to exist, because my diploma from U. of Delaware says so. If it didn’t, I guess I’d be out on the street. Fun Delaware fact: the arc at the top of the state has a twelve mile radius, with the center at the old courthouse in New Castle. Part of the Jersey shore across the Delaware bay is in Delaware, but only at low tide. The license plates are flat without embossing. I guess that makes it tough for blind cops to read your plates. I used to think the traffic sucked there, but then I moved to Seattle. Oh, how I long for the backup at Churchman’s Marsh. Go Hens! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-delaware-does-not-exist/30358.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-delaware-does-not-exist/30358.md?page=6)