In 1899, Congressman William Vandiver spoke before a naval banquet in Philadelphia, saying, "I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me." The folks from Missouri took the sound bite to heart, and embraced it as an emblem of their stubbornness and common sense. From that day onward, Missouri was known as the "Show Me State."