State Shape Pride

[Praedura]

A traveler known as "Chedddar Yeti" passed through Oklahoma City and made an interesting observation:

Oklahoma City has got a sweet funky vibe. Offbeat murals, Guatemalan food, a local art scene,
music roots & some serious state shape pride.

"state shape pride".... hmmm... I like it.

Yep, I think we definitely do. Hey, no other state has a shape like that. It's quite distinctive.


Good for making an interesting corporate graphic:




Or as a cutting board:




Or, how about as a cupcake?




Or maybe a swimming pool:

[Mel]

I want that pool!

[BrettM2]

A friend of mine is slated to start selling wall-mounted wooden Oklahomas (made out of pallet wood) and coasters at Blue Seven. They look awesome.

[Pete]

Love that pool!

And I've always loved the shape of the state... Incredibly distinctive and recognizable.

[Martin]

just in case y'all didn't know... that pool is at the governor's mansion. -M

[Praedura]

just in case y'all didn't know... that pool is at the governor's mansion. -M

Very appropriate.

[Praedura]

I remember some years back seeing some mailboxes that had the notification flag in the shape of Oklahoma. Which worked well -- just required making the panhandle a bit longer. But I can't find any photos of these.

[Larry OKC]

A traveler known as "Chedddar Yeti" passed through Oklahoma City and made an interesting observation:



"state shape pride".... hmmm... I like it.

Yep, I think we definitely do. Hey, no other state has a shape like that. It's quite distinctive.


Good for making an interesting corporate graphic:

Where is that from? That would look great on a t-shirt etc. Building Oklahoma (or in the case of our numerous and most recent natural disasters, re-building Oklahoma). Given our strong business climate and historical labor roots it seems appropriate

The official state motto of Oklahoma is "Labor omnia vincit" (Latin for "Labor conquers all things").

[TechArch]

It looks like a SandRidge Energy graphic based on their logo in gray.

[Praedura]

It looks like a SandRidge Energy graphic based on their logo in gray.

Yep. It's linked. Just click on the image and you'll be whisked off to SandRidge's facebook page.

[Praedura]

What I'm curious about it how the state got that shape in the first place. I probably learned it as a kid, but I've forgotten.



The southern border is ridiculously easy to explain -- it's the Red River.

And the northern border is just a parallel, I assume (not sure which.) Probably set when they were delineating the southern border of Kansas.

But the left and right ends are the intriguing ones. The eastern border on the right should come straight down, you would think. But instead, it takes a long jog to the southeast before coming down. Don't know why.

But the biggest question is on the west. How did we end up with the panhandle? Seems like it could have been incorporated into Texas' panhandle leaving us with a truncated area with a shape more like Ohio -- or a fat Indiana.
Fortunately, the panhandle saved us from a boring fate. I could go google for the history, but I'm too lazy at the moment.

[Mel]

I would like to own this series on dvd. It is interesting how all the states got their shape.
How The States Got Their Shapes ? Episodes, Video & Schedule - H2 on History.com

[Jim Kyle]

But the biggest question is on the east. How did we end up with the panhandle? Seems like it could have been incorporated into Texas' panhandle leaving us with a truncated area with a shape more like Ohio -- or a fat Indiana.

Actually that's one of the more interesting items. When Texas came into the union prior to the War Between The States, it insisted on coming in as a slave state. However the Missouri Compromise lopped off the north end of its Panhandle, leaving a space between Texas and the Kansas Territory that actually had NO legitimate government at all. It became known as No Man's Land. Even the federal marshals had no jurisdiction there, because it wasn't part of any territory. When Oklahoma came in, in 1907, the problem was solved by making it part of Oklahoma.

I don't know why our eastern border has that offset, though. I suspect it has something to do with how Arkansas got its shape, because all our other borders were sorta leftovers from other states' outines...

[Martin]

I don't know why our eastern border has that offset, though.

i was curious myself...

according to wikipedia:

Originally the western border of Missouri was intended to go due south to the Red River. During negotiations with the Choctaw in 1820, however, Andrew Jackson unknowingly ceded more of Arkansas territory. Then in 1824, after further negotiations, the Choctaw agreed to move farther west, but only by "100 paces" of the actual garrison on Belle Point. This resulted in the bend in the common border at Fort Smith, Arkansas.

[bandnerd]

The Oklahoma Scholastic Media gives out OK-shaped plaques to their All-Oklahoman winning news sites, papers, and yearbooks. I like to hold mine like a meat cleaver as I walk through the hallways when we win one. They don't stand up well on a plate stand, though, in the trophy case. You win some, you lose some.

I kind of want that cutting board. And by kind of, I mean a lot.

[ou48A]

I believe the swimming pool was first installed while Bellmon was governor...
But regardless, it sure looks at lot better now than the last time I was at the Gov.’s mansion.

[RadicalModerate]

When I was a little kid I had one of those "jigsaw puzzle" maps of the U.S. showing each state with its capital and a couple of little images linked to what the state was famous for. I played with it so much that I broke off the Oklahoma panhandle and had to tape it back on. It never fit as well into the puzzle after that. But Oklahoma without a panhandle is like a poor, drab, runty, cousin of Iowa, shapewise.

Florida definitely has a panhandle. Idaho definitely has a panhandle.
I don't think the Texas Panhandle is technically a "panhandle" at all.
Henceforth it should be referred to as The Amarillo Semi-Quadrilateral.
Or the Texas Griddle Without a Handle of Any Meaningful Description.

As important as The Oklahoma Panhandle is, in real life one should only drive across it at night because the utter desolation and boredom can become oppressive. (As Ron Shock used to say about Kansas: "Only drive across Kansas at night because if you do it in the daytime it will suck the soul right out of you . . . Miles Davis did it during daylight hours one time and came out the other side a white man." =)

Frankly . . . Based only on the Thread Title . . . I thought this was a discussion celebrating the imaginary fact that a few Okies had lost some weight and the state had moved up to Number 46 on the scale of that sort of thing. Once again, I was mistaken.

(please feel free to rearrange those "paragraphs" in whatever order works for you. =)

[RadicalModerate]

I would like to own this series on dvd. It is interesting how all the states got their shape.
How The States Got Their Shapes ? Episodes, Video & Schedule - H2 on History.com

What? You don't have a DVR? =)
(those little, un-recycled cardboard, Map/Geography puzzles, enjoyed as a child--in the 50's--allowed me to know exactly what TV show--on the topic that we are discussing (and to which you were referring)-- probably is. (and that was before The Internet and GPS! =)

(b.t.w.): i watched the entire series, twice. only James Burke's "Connections" series(es?)--on pre-DVR PBS--stand out even more clearly in my memories of "home schoolin' fer myself as a grownup adult =)

[LocoAko]

Took this at O'Connell's in Norman, though they're also at Sooner Legends.

[Mel]

No dvr, just a vcr. Connections did show how convoluted discovery can be. That is a pretty sink, have not been in either place.

[Martin]

James Burke's "Connections"

glad to see someone else has seen this... the original series is one of my favorite of all time. -M

[Martin]

Took this at O'Connell's in Norman, though they're also at Sooner Legends.

who needs that much kleenex at a bar? is it for all the tears shed during bowl season? -M

/i kid, i kid!

[Boomer3791]

For some super cool OKlahoma state shaped hats, tees, visors, etc. check out Oklahoma | State Traditions. You can order from the website or buy the hats at Threads on Campus Corner in Norman. I have the crimson version of the OK state shape hat and get comments on it everywhere I go.

[RadicalModerate]

who needs that much kleenex at a bar? is it for all the tears shed during bowl season? -M

/i kid, i kid!

well . . . at least the drain in the sink pic is located geographically appropriately for "hopes" of a championship . . . =)
(not a serious comment ^)

Cool stuff at Post 23 ^^. No Joke.

[Praedura]

Some folks from Skyline Ink Animation Studios made a trip to the Taliesin House by Frank Lloyd Wright, a building with a fascinating, bizarre, and even grisly history.




While there, they noticed something in the stone work -- Oklahoma!



Coincindence or not? Hmm....

Ok, ok, I grant you that was likely not by design. But the point is... an Okie can spot a good Oklahoma shape in an instant. That shape is burned into our brain, from childhood onward.