Although I’ve lived in Florida for more than four years, I’m still proud to say that Minnesota is where my life started, and I still call Minnesota “home”.
Where I live, there are people from all over the United States living in my neighborhood, and some of them like to poke fun at me for being from Minnesota, but I know it’s all in good fun.
Last week, my next-door neighbor texted me the following:
I GREW UP IN MINNESOTA
Just in case ya didn’t know, Minnesota became the 32nd state on May 11, 1858, and was originally settled by a lost tribe of Norwegians seeking refuge from the searing heat of Wisconsin’s winters.
Minnesota gets its name from the Sioux Indian word “mah-nee-soo-tahj,” meaning, “No really…they eat fish soaked in lye.”
The state song of Minnesota is “Someday the Vikings will…Aw, never mind.”
The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, covers 9.5 million square feet and has enough space to hold 185,000 idiot teenagers yapping away on cell phones.
Madison, Minnesota, is known as “the lutefisk capital of the world.” Avoid this city at all costs.
“The Mary Tyler Moore Show” was set in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was Mary’s first real acting job since leaving the “Dick van Dyke” show. The show about a single woman’s struggle to find happiness in the big city was originally titled “Life Without Dick,” but that was changed for some reason.
Downtown Minneapolis has an enclosed skyway system covering 52 blocks, allowing people to live, work, eat, and sleep without ever going outside. The only downside to this is that a Norwegian occasionally turns up missing.
Cartoonist Charles M. Schultz was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and grew up in St. Paul. He was the only artist to accurately depict the perfectly circular heads of Minnesota natives.
The Hormel Company of Austin, Minnesota, produces six million cans of Spam a year, even though no one actually eats it. Spam is a prized food in Japan and Hawaii – Spam sushi!
Minnesota license plates are blue and white and contain the phrase, “Blizzards on the 4th of July – you get used to it.”
Frank C. Mars, founder of the Mars Candy Company, was born in Newport, Minnesota. His 3 Musketeers candy bar originally contained three bars in one wrapper, each filled with a different flavor of nougat – chocolate, Spam, and Lutefisk.
Tonka trucks continue to be manufactured in Minnetonka, Minnesota, despite the thousands of G.I. Joe dolls are killed by them annually in rollover accidents. No airbags, no seat belts. These things are death traps, I tell ya!
Author Laura Ingalls Wilder was raised at Walnut Grove, Minnesota, and was famous for writing the “Little House” series of books, as well as inventing the “Spam diet,” which consists of looking at a plate of Spam until you lose your appetite. Much like the “lutefisk diet,”
The snowmobile was invented in Roseau, Minnesota, so as to allow families a means of attending 4th of July picnics.
Minnesotans are almost indistinguishable from Wisconsinites. The only way to tell them apart is to ask if they voted for Mondale in ‘84.
Now, it’s up to you to share this with all your friends. If one of them doesn’t share with others, he/she will be given an entrance pin to attend the Eelpout Festival in Walker, MN … in February.
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Cold is a relative thing ya know . . .
At 65 degrees, Arizonans turn on the heat. People in Minnesota plant gardens.
At 60, Californians shiver uncontrollably. People in Minnesota sunbathe.
At 50, Italian and English cars won’t start. People in Minnesota drive with the windows down.
At 40, Georgians put on coats, thermal underwear, gloves, and wool hats. People in Minnesota throw on a flannel shirt.
At 35, New York landlords finally turn up the heat. People in Minnesota have the last cookout before it gets cold.
At 20, people in Miami all die. Minnesotans close their windows.
At 0, Californians fly away to Mexico. People in Minnesota get out their winter coats.
At 10 below zero, Hollywood disintegrates. The Girl Scouts in Minnesota are selling cookies door to door.
At 20 below, Washington, DC runs out of hot air – (Ya think? Nah.) People in Minnesota let their dogs sleep indoors.
At 30 below, Santa Claus abandons the North Pole. Minnesotans get upset because they can’t start the snowmobile.
At 40 below, ALL atomic motion stops. People in Minnesota start saying…”Cold enough for ya, eh?”
At 50 below, heck freezes over. Minnesota public schools open two hours late.
Have A Good Week!
