World's Largest Swedish Coffee Pot and Coffee Cup
Stanton, Iowa
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Home of Virginia Christine, Stanton Iowa painted their water tower to resemble a giant symbol of Swedish hospitality - an oversized coffee pot decorated with a traditional Swedish design. Don't know who Virginia Christine is? Well, you would if you saw her - she's Folgers Coffee's Mrs. Olsen. And the town isn't kidding about the hospitality - if you stop in the Swedish Heritage and Cultural Center nearby, you'll likely to be treated to a cup of coffee answers to all of the various questions you have about the area.
"Mrs. Olson" of coffee commercial fame, was one of Stanton's famous daughters. At the time of the centennial in 1970, Virginia came home to be the parade marshal. During the celebration she served coffee to the public. Stanton's water tower was converted to a giant Swedish coffeepot the following year. It is 125 feet high and can hold 40,000 gallons. That translates to 640,000 cups!
Warning: there are other coffepots out there. The most frequently occuring are at Sapp Brothers truck stops, using coffeepot water towers to entice road-weary travelers in for a refreshing cup of hours-old acidic brew. But, they're not quite as large. And, not nearly as colorful.
The city's description:
Hollywood screen and TV personality Virginia Christing, "Mrs. Olson" of coffee commercial fame, was one of Stanton's famous daughters. At the time of our centennial in 1970, Virginia came home to be our parade marshal. During the celebration she served coffee to the public. Stanton's water tower was converted to a giant Swedish coffeepot the following year.
Award-Winning Coffee-Cup Water Tower - We're Growing!
Our coffeepot water tower has served us well in more than just the area of water service. It has been recognized as an icon for our town heightening our profile and creating interest in our community. Newspapers from coast to coast have published feature articles about the unique structure, and a photograph of the coffeepot can even be found at the Denver International Airport. We want to make sure that we continue the tradition of rwhich we are nationally known.
The coffeepot water tower will remain in service, and it continues to be a tourist attraction attracting busloads of visitors each year.
3/21/01 - We received word from Phoenix Fabricators and Erectors, Inc. that they had entered the photograph taken by Julie Strickland in their trade association's national "Tank of the Year" contest, and it won first place. Each year ballots are distributed to the various companies along with photographs of the entries. All of the companies votes. Phoenix has entered the contest every year since their company was established fifteen years ago, but this was their first winning entry.
World's Largest Coffee Pot and Coffee Cup Stats
World's Largest Coffee Pot Stats: built 1971
The Swedish Coffeepot water tower stands 125 feet hgh and can hold 40,000 gallons - 640,000 cups. Stanton is also the birth place of Hollywood's Virginia Christine, the "Mrs. Olsen" on folgers Coffee television commercials.
World's Largest Coffee Cup Stats: built 2000
It is 96 feet tall and can hold 150,000 gallons - 2,400,000 cups of coffee. It is located at the corner of Highland and Hilltop.
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