Historic signs found hidden under roof of Lindstrom home bring back memories of local landmark
The town of Lindstrom, Minnesota, is known for its unique water tower, but an unlikely discovery is bringing back memories of another landmark.
"We own our Swedish heritage," Jana Lensing said.
In Lindstrom, that heritage can be found both on street level and in the sky.
"You can't miss it. We are known worldwide for our coffee pot water tower," Lensing said.
A Swedish coffee pot, to be exact. Twice a day, real steam comes out of the top.
"So it steams at 10:00 a.m. and 3 p.m., which is fika hour," Lensing said. "Fika is the act of having coffee and conversation and something to eat with your friends."
Lensing is the owner of Gladje Gallery. They do custom framing and sell artwork done by local artists, but recently, a piece came in that's priceless to Lindstrom.
"I was like, 'Why is Santa on my roof?' He was like, 'I have no idea, but there's another one on the other side.'" said Kirstin Westby.
Westby and her husband bought a 136-year-old historic home near town that was built by Swedish immigrants. While having their roof replaced, workers discovered not one, but two Santa Claus signs hidden underneath.
"I just posted on our Lindstrom neighborhood page if anybody knew what this was and the post just absolutely blew up," Westby said.
People far and wide quickly recognized the "Gustaf's World of Christmas" signs. It was a long-ago business run by Marlene Smith, who was also the owner of Plastic Products Company. But her Gustaf's store is remembered for other reasons.
"People remembered specific rooms. They remembered an animatronic Santa Claus. They remember giant toys," Westby said.
Smith's former handyman owned the house before Westby bought it, nd she figures he may have put the signs on the roof after Gustaf's closed its doors in the mid '90s, meaning Santa and his reindeer had been hiding under shingles for about 30 years.
"It was an amazing find for Kirstin to find them. Just think if they were face down, we would never have seen them again," Lensing said.
One of the signs will remain in Lensing's gallery, which is the same location where Marlene Smith operated Gustaf's. Lensing said Smith brought a civic spirit to Lindstrom, and she's also credited with saving the water tower from being demolished. She paid thousands of dollars to add the handle and spout. It was just the steam the city needed to keep its landmark.
As a thank you for everything Smith did for Lindstrom, the city put up a statue of her near downtown.
"She had an incredible influence on this space," Lensing said. "What she did and put in place is really a done a lot of amazing things for our community, to draw people in."
While one Gustaf's sign will remain in the Gladje Gallery, the other will be donated to the Chisago County Historical Society. You can find the coffee pot water tower on Highway 8 in the middle of Lindstrom.
