# Your State's Weirdest Official Thingy **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 27, 2017, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-states-weirdest-official-thingy/785376 "2017-04-27T16:14:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-states-weirdest-official-thingy/785376/1 "2017-04-27T16:14:59Z")
In another thread about official state birds I was surprised to learn that it’s possible to have any number of official state “thingies” in addition to the standard birds and flowers and wotnot. It seems it’s pretty much a case of convincing the relevant legislature to make it so\*. So what’s your state’s (or county’s I guess?) oddest thingy? Scurvy - the official disease of Alaska? Clogs - the official footwear of Wisconsin? Liver - the official snack of Delaware? \*correct me if I’m wrong. I am but an ignorant Brit. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-states-weirdest-official-thingy/785376/2 "2017-04-27T16:25:42Z")
Kalkaska sand is the official state soil of Michigan. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-states-weirdest-official-thingy/785376/3 "2017-04-27T16:29:12Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Kalkaska sand is the official state soil of Michigan. Checking around, I see other states have official state soils. But Arkansas has the Dutch Oven as the official state cooking vessel. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-states-weirdest-official-thingy/785376/4 "2017-04-27T16:29:16Z")
California’s State Soil is [San Joaquin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Joaquin_(soil)) To my surprise, other states have [their own soil.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_soils) California’s State Animal, The [California Grizzly Bear](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_grizzly_bear), is extinct. The California State Grass is not Marijuana but Purple Needlegrass. 😉 ETA: ninja’d on the dirt. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-states-weirdest-official-thingy/785376/5 "2017-04-27T16:30:12Z")
Oh, and feel free to invent some as **BobLibDem** must surely have done 😉 I’ll try and guess which are real or imagined. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-states-weirdest-official-thingy/785376/6 "2017-04-27T16:32:07Z")
Landlocked Salmon- The official state fish of Maine. Maine, a coastal state famous for its seafood, would have many options for an official state fish. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-states-weirdest-official-thingy/785376/7 "2017-04-27T16:33:53Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > Oh, and feel free to invent some as **BobLibDem** must surely have done 😉 > > I’ll try and guess which are real or imagined. You can find it and some other doozies [here.](https://statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-official-item/arkansas/state-cultural-heritage/dutch-oven) ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-states-weirdest-official-thingy/785376/8 "2017-04-27T16:34:35Z")
Washington State has an oyster. > [@](#): > > The Ostrea lurida was designated the official oyster of the state of Washington. This native oyster species plays an important role in the history and culture that surrounds shellfish in Washington state and along the west coast of the United States. Some of the common tribal and other names used for this species are Native, Western, and Olympia. > The Ostrea lurida was designated as a state symbol in 2014. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-states-weirdest-official-thingy/785376/9 "2017-04-27T16:40:18Z")
From memory - Illinois state fossil: the Tully monster! There’s a little boy at the end of our street named Tully. He was thrilled when I told him our state fossil shared his name. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-states-weirdest-official-thingy/785376/10 "2017-04-27T16:41:49Z")
New York attempted to have an official state bottle. It passed the legislature, but the governor vetoed it, saying it was just a trick to increase the value of the bottle for those who owned them. There is an official state fossil (sea scorpion), though, and an official state seashell (scallop), though. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-states-weirdest-official-thingy/785376/11 "2017-04-27T16:47:26Z")
California has an encyclopedic catalog of California State Thingies, as I’m sure other states do too. Wikipedia’s [List of California state symbols](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_California_state_symbols) Includes such thingies as: [ul][li] Amphibian: California red-legged frog.[/li][li] Dance: West Coast Swing.[/li][li] Folk Dance: Square dance.[/li][li] Insect: California dogface butterfly.[/li][li] Marine Mammal: Gray whale.[/li][li] Nut: Almond.[/li][li] Reptile: Desert tortoise.[/li][li] Rock: Serpentine. (What, that’s not a reptile?)[/li][li] Tartan: [California State Tartan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Tartan).[/ul][/li] The idea behind a lot of these things, obviously, is to promote tourism (the Marine Mammal) or other economic activity – industry, commerce, agriculture, etc. (Almond). ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-states-weirdest-official-thingy/785376/12 "2017-04-27T16:51:57Z")
We almost had the banana slug as the California state mollusk but the idea was vetoed by the governor. His reasoning:\* “It is not representative of the international reputation California enjoys.” \* ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-states-weirdest-official-thingy/785376/13 "2017-04-27T16:56:46Z")
My state is its own weirdest official thingy. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-states-weirdest-official-thingy/785376/14 "2017-04-27T17:00:25Z")
The Ohio state rock song is “Hang On Sloopy”. Ohio was the first state to adopt an official rock song, and, yup, that’s the one they picked. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-states-weirdest-official-thingy/785376/15 "2017-04-27T17:01:05Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > You can find it and some other doozies [here.](https://statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-official-item/arkansas/state-cultural-heritage/dutch-oven) I’m hooked! South Carolina. I applaud your adoption of an official State Snack. But the _boiled peanut_? ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-states-weirdest-official-thingy/785376/16 "2017-04-27T17:06:30Z")
Wiscoinsin’s state fossil is the trilobite (not all that weird – cool IMHO). Probably the weirdest is the state pastry (kringle) Minnesota has a state muffin (blueberry) Brian ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-states-weirdest-official-thingy/785376/17 "2017-04-27T17:25:46Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Washington State has an oyster. Ignorance fought! Here I thought the phallic [Geoduck](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoduck) would be the official mollusc of WA - maybe it’s “unofficial”. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-states-weirdest-official-thingy/785376/18 "2017-04-27T17:48:24Z")
I am proud to say that Georgia’s state dog is the adoptable dog. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-states-weirdest-official-thingy/785376/19 "2017-04-27T17:50:21Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > Wiscoinsin’s state fossil is the trilobite (not all that weird – cool IMHO). Ohio’s state fossil is the isotelus, which was a type of trilobite. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-states-weirdest-official-thingy/785376/20 "2017-04-27T17:53:31Z")
> [@swampbear](#): > > I am proud to say that Georgia’s state dog is the adoptable dog. California expands that to the [Shelter Pet.](https://statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-official-item/california/dogs-cats-mammals/shelter-pet) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-states-weirdest-official-thingy/785376.md?page=2)