We’re not sure what H.W. Hill & Co. of Decatur, Illinois had against the state of Missouri back in the late 1800s, but the beef (or “pork,” in this case) has been immortalized in this strange map of state nicknames.
The map was published in 1884, but in today’s tense political climate, we guess it’s comforting to see evidence we’ve been insulting each other with boorish behavior for a long, long time.
Fun fact: A bit of digging yielded this information regarding why people from Missouri are referred to as “Pukes”:
The Puke State
This distasteful name is said to refer to the large gathering of Missourians in 1827 at the Galena Lead Mines. According to George Earlie Shankle, PhD, in State Names, Flags, Seals, Songs, Birds, Flowers and Other Symbols, 1938, “…so many Missourians had assembled, that those already there declared the State of Missouri had taken a ‘puke.'” – Via Netstate
The states of America are more divided now than they've been in a really long time, and people have been representing their state and talking trash about other states on social media since the election.
But these generalizations, misconceptions and stereotypes about the states (and the people who live in each state) are nothing new, as you can see on this Nicknames of the States map from 1884.
This colorful map was created by the livestock supply company H.W. Hill & Co. as a promotional item, hence the pigs representing each state, and some of the nicknames on the map are not very pleasant.
Something tells me H.W. Hill didn't do much business in states like "puke" (Missouri) or "corn cracker", a less than affectionate nickname for Kentucky that was later shortened to "cracker".
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