It started innocently enough. On my way across Pennsylvania, I stopped at a Turnpike oasis for some Roy Rogers Fried Chicken. In the gift shop, I saw a frosted green Pennsylvania mug. I was currently mugless, so I took it home. A friend saw it, and on a trip to Denver, she got me a Colorado mug.

And if you're Seán Dwyer, once you have two out of a mere 50 of anything, you have either a collection or a problem. Who wants to have problems?

So, here's where the collection stands. Please do not send me mugs. The main criteria for collecting these mugs are 1) that I buy them myself and 2) that I be in the state when I buy them. You can send me photos of cool state mugs, and when I'm in your state, maybe we can meet and I'll buy it from you. But please don't mail me mugs, because I will wind up with 25 Kentucky mugs, or something like that, and I live in a small place.

Read the Mug Notes below for stories about acquisitions and experiences in the states.

Oh, no! I accidentally picked up a Manitoba mug while I was in Winnipeg for New Year's Eve 2006. Here we go again: check out the Canadian Provincial Mugs page!

And now I'm planning to explore Ireland again soon, so the Irish Mugs page is ready and waiting.

Alabama	Alaska	Arizona
Arkansas	California	Colorado
Connecticut	Delaware	Florida
Georgia	Hawaii	Idaho
Illinois	Indiana	Iowa
Kansas	Kentucky	Louisiana
Maine	Maryland	Massachusetts
Michigan	Minnesota	Mississippi
Missouri	Montana	Nebraska
Nevada	New Hampshire	New Jersey
New Mexico	New York	North Carolina
North Dakota	Ohio	Oklahoma
Oregon	Pennsylvania	Rhode Island
South Carolina	South Dakota	Tennessee
Texas	Utah	Vermont
Virginia	Washington	West Virginia
Wisconsin	Wyoming	Washington, DC
Guam	Puerto Rico	U.S. Virgin Islands

1. No, I don't have 23 red mugs with no state names. Those are space-fillers I drew myself so the table would not look lopsided.

2. I didn't have a mug collection when I visited Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia and Wyoming. I'll catch them next time.

3. I flat-out forgot to get mugs in Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska and New Hampshire. Considering that I drove out of my way from Memphis to go to Mississippi for a mug, that one is pretty shameful. (More on Mississippi below.)

4. I have taken for granted states where I lived (Indiana and Michigan) or visit often (Illinois). I have a Minnesota mug because I got it before I moved here. (Update: See #24.)

5. I have spent a lot of time in New Jersey and New York, but there don't seem to be a lot of places that sell mugs. Most of the time, you're getting mugged, not getting mugs. Update: I finally figured out where to get a New York mug in June 2008, but I forgot to stop in New Jersey.

6. I have yet to visit Alaska and Hawaii.

7. I have figured out that a great place to get mugs is a Pilot store.

8. Arizona and Michigan are the only mugs whose names I can't read without turning the mug around. Michigan complicates things by being clear.

9. Colorado is identified only by the handle, which broke off during a move. The rule is I have to go back to a state for a replacement if the mug breaks. Yay!

10. Idaho is the only potato-shaped mug I have. I don't know why other states haven't caught on to that groove.

11. Iowa is really a delicate cup, not a mug. I got it early on, before all of the criteria were clear in my head. Ohio is also a pretty thin cup. In the same way, some mugs mention cities: Georgia mentions Atlanta, Utah mentions Beaver, and I have a Las Vegas mug (given to me by my friend Tom) that doesn't mention Nevada.

12. I cheated a bit and got Kansas and Oklahoma in the same store near the Oklahoma-Kansas border.

13. I got Maine and Maryland mugs bearing crustaceans because I have a deadly allergy to shrimp, crab and lobster, and this way I get to have them as part of my meal from time to time.

14. I think the same company made my Minnesota, Wisconsin and Utah mugs.

15. Montana was the 48th state I visited. The guy who sold me the mug was really bored until I told him it was my 48th state. Then he talked to me for ten minutes.

16. New Mexico looks more like a beer stein, but I use it for coffee because I am allergic to beer as well as crustaceans.

17. I still like my Pennsylvania mug despite having a lot of other cool mugs.

18. Don't mess with Texas: Oooh, I'm scared. The slogan is actually an environmental campaign, so I'm good with that.

19. Washington is my one minimalist mug. I had a chance at something a bit more gaudy, but I thought I should have a baseline basic mug to make all the others shine brighter. The young lady who wrapped the Washington mug (it was in a convenience store) did the most thorough, loving job of wrapping it, since it had to travel safely "all the way to Minnesota." I hope her employers appreciate her excellent work.

20. I wandered all over Charleston, West Virginia in search of a mug. I had given up and was almost out of the state when I came upon the gift shop where I got this purple-glassed octagonal beauty, which is probably my favorite to date.

21. I figure I should get a DC mug next time I'm there, and I hope to visit Puerto Rico, so I'll use a mug as an excuse to go. So, why not Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands?

22. Even if I had had a mug collection when I visited Louisiana, I would have forgotten to get one. I was touring Mexico and the Southeastern U.S. with my brother. I rolled into western Louisiana from Texas after driving all night, and I had to wait 30 minutes for a gas station to open before I could fill up and continue my journey. When I reached New Orleans, I drove past the Superdome and fell asleep. Someone honked me awake, and I saw I was drifting across four lanes of traffic. Nice. I woke up and drove until I was three miles into Mississippi, where I woke my brother and made him drive. I didn't see any more of Mississippi on that trip.

23. Oh, yes, Mississippi. I forgot to get a mug because I drove about 20 miles from Tennessee to a Mississippi convenience store, where I used the restroom. Next to the restroom was a little walled-off area where some animal was crying piteously. I was shaken enough to forget both the Mississippi and the Arkansas mugs. I sometimes wonder if I should have asked someone in authority to stop by and check out the sounds, but I was stupid that day, and I'm not sure there was any authority in that area anyway.

24. On a visit to Indiana for my dad's 75th birthday party (March 2007), I finally got mugs in Illinois and Indiana. They both showed the state bird, a cardinal, so I turned the Indiana mug around to display the covered bridge on the other side. These two gave me 26 mugs, so I passed the halfway mark when I got them. I got a Michigan mug in June of 2008, to take care of that other state where I had lived.

Photos © 2008 by Seán Dwyer

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