”The orange crush belongs to Maryland, not Delaware” wrote the Baltimore Sun, protesting news that Delaware’s legislators were somehow preparing to name orange crush cocktail the official state drink of Delaware. The orange juice, lime soda, liquor and ice drink was, officially, invented in 1995 in Ocean City, Md.
However, the Sun headline missed the real point. It should have read “Delaware belongs to Maryland, not Delaware.”
Some history. As the colonies formed, the Calverts in Maryland and William Penn in Philadelphia argued over their borders. With legal bunkum, and over Maryland’s protests, Pennsylvania was granted what is now Delaware by the English king in 1683. Case law piled up as (Penn v. Lord Baltimore) the dispute continued until another British royal in 1750 gave the land permanently to Pennsylvania. As if to prove it all had been a ruse, right before 1776, Pennsylvania released control over the land, and Delaware became the First State.
My suggestion: To honor this history and avoid further orange crush embarrassment, Delaware should rename its official state drink orange filch.
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