7 untruths about Oklahoma people accept as fact

Oklahoma is known for many things, from inventions to historical footnotes. But how many of them are legit, and how many are complete falsehoods?

Here are seven widely accepted “facts” about Oklahoma that range from “OK, this has some truth to it, kind of” to complete lies. “Facts” like…

7. The twist tie was invented in Maysville, Okla.

The “fact”:

Where in the world would we be without the twist tie, and how in the world would we keep our bread fresh?

Forget bread boxes. Forget rubber bands. Thanks to the ingenuity of one Oklahoman in Maysville during the 1930s, the twist tie was invented, and it ushered in years of pet owners freaking out because furkid Rufus got one stuck in his throat.

The truth:

Except it wasn’t an Oklahoman that ruined so many lives, because an Oklahoman never invented the twist tie. It was invented by a California company in the late 1930s and were originally called Twist-Ems.

To be fair, the first twist tie machine was invented in Maysville. So, an Okie saw the horror pet owners everywhere were going through and decided it’d be a good idea to mass produce the culprit.

The verdict:

OK, so it’s not factually correct, but it’s not far off. Thus, it’s not a complete lie, just a case of mistaken identity.

6. The aerosol can was invented in Bartlesville, Okla.

The “fact”:

I’ve no idea how the invention of the world wonder known as the aerosol can ever got attached to Bartlesville, but it did. Google about it and you’ll find a good number of sites sharing this fact like it’s Gospel.

The truth:

Really, the aerosol can is a Norwegian invention. It was invented and patented by Erik Rotheim in 1926 in Oslo, and a United States patent for the invention was granted just five years later.

And, thanks to him, spiders don’t stand a chance, kids are getting high in dad’s garage and talented artists are creating works of art all around the world.

The verdict:

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