Beef State

Introduction

Lesson Plans: 1950-1974: Beef State - Grade Level [4]

Nebraska has had only two official state names:

• The Tree Planter State, 1895 - 1945 and
• The Cornhusker State, 1945 - present. (Many outsiders may think that this last title derived from the football team, rather than the other way around.)

However, beef had become so important to Nebraska’s economy by the 1950s that from 1956 through 1965, the Nebraska license plate carried the motto,

The Beef State

That title was never an official state name by act of the legislature, but it carried an important place in the hearts of Nebraskans.

Beef boomed Nebraska’s economy. The tax revenue it generated helped support important, long sought-after building projects and created new institutions, such as:

• The Nebraska State Historical Society’s museum in 1952.
• The Nebraska ETV Network in 1954.
• The governor’s residence in 1956.
• And many more.

Beef helped Nebraska prosper after World War II.
From the 2008 NET program, Beef State

In Nebraska, the prosperity of the 1950s and ‘60s that the rest of the country also felt was directly a result of our beef economy.