How New Jersey Became the Garden State
By Gabriel Arnold
In 1954, a new license plate design, which had the phrase `Garden State' printed on it, was vetoed by Governor Robert B. Meyner.
The slogan “The Garden State” seemed like a good idea at the time.
It was Jersey Day, August 24, 1876. The Centennial Exhibition was in full swing in Philadelphia, when a man named Abraham Browning, of Camden, New Jersey, took the stage to make an address. A talented speaker, Browning said that New Jersey was like “an immense barrel, filled with good things to eat and open at both ends, with Pennsylvanians grabbing from one end and the New Yorkers from the other.”
He went on to call New Jersey “The Garden State” and the name has stuck ever since. That is, if you believe Jersey Waggon Jaunts, a 1926 history of the state by Alfred M. Heston.
Some experts don’t believe it.
“The problem with this is that the image of a barrel tapped at both ends dates back at least to Benjamin Franklin,” Robert Lupp of the New Jersey State Library has said. “So this statement crediting Browning with naming the Garden State cannot be taken at face value.”
People have been debating the usefulness of the slogan for years.
In 1954, a new license plate design, which had the phrase `Garden State’ printed on it, was vetoed by Governor Robert B. Meyner. “My investigation discloses that there is no official recognition of the slogan ‘Garden State’ as an identification of the State of New Jersey,” Governor Meyer declared. Despite his condemnation, the bill was passed by the legislature anyway, giving us the unique license plate we have today.
Beyond the mystery and debate, New Jersey does have a rich farming history that dates back to the Revolutionary War, when the state was known as the Crossroads because of the mass volume of troops and supplies passing through it. With surprisingly good soil, climate, and geographical location, New Jersey residents were pivotal in supplying the Continental armies with food.
Although the nickname may seem comical to some, given that New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the country, agriculture is still a major part of the state’s way of life.
The state ranks second in the nation in blueberry production, third in cranberry production, and third in spinach production, among several other crops and industries. Those are big numbers for the fourth smallest state in the country.
