Californicate

[Judi Sanders]

When Tom McCall was the Governor of Oregon ('67-'75) he led the "Don't
Californicate Oregon" campaign.  There were a variety of bumper stickers to
that effect (and also about the number of people who fall off their bicycles
and drown each year).  I'm pretty sure I still have such a bumper sticker in
some box somewhere!  I don't recall the date but I moved to California in 1973
so it would have been before that.

All this isn't to say that someone else didn't use the phrase before
Oregonians in the early '70s . . . but rather, it was clearly popular there at
that time.

Judi Sanders

Dr. Judi Sanders
Professor, Communication
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
On the web:  http://www.csupomona.edu/~jasanders
The College Slang Page:  http://www.csupomona.edu/~jasanders/slang/