In 1992, Jo Anne, Mother, and I started taking a fall trip every year. After Mother's passing, our trips became longer and more involved and not always in the fall. This year we are headed to Connecticut, the Nutmeg State, for a few days. I had to do some research into why Connecticut is called the Nutmeg State and this is what I found.
It is officially the Constitution State, but its "unofficial" nickname is the Nutmeg State.
One of the earliest references to this name in literature was in the book "State Names, Flags, Seals, Songs, Birds, Flowers, and Other Symbols" by George Earlie Shankle, published in 1941.
According to Shankle, the story's originator was Sam Slick, a fictional character created by Judge Thomas Chandler Haliburton of Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada. This nickname was given to Connecticut "because its early inhabitants had the reputation of being so ingenious and shrewd that they were able to make and sell wooden nutmegs."
But there is no proof that New England sellers actually sold wooden nutmegs. "It's not really clear if anybody did that...or if it originated in the idea that Yankee peddlers were so good at their business they would be able to sell you a wooden nutmeg,"
However, the Connecticut State Library published an excerpt from a 1980s issue of Connecticut Magazine, in which writer Elizabeth Abbe gave an alternate explanation. Abbe wrote that traders did sell nutmeg to foreign customers who did not know how to use it. Customers thought nutmeg needed to be cracked like a walnut.
"Nutmegs are wood and bounce when struck. If southern customers did not grate them, they may very well have accused the Yankees of selling useless 'wooden' nutmeg," wrote Abbe.
Regardless of the origin story, state residents have claimed the nickname.
I just like it because it's funny. "Constitution State is a perfectly fine nickname, but it's not one of those you would remember if you had to learn all 50 states' nicknames."
This is probably the quickest we have ever planned a trip. Jo Anne asked what happened to our fall trip this year, and the next thing we know, we have planned a trip that's just one month away. Off to Connecticut!
