Chicken
Art & Canadian Politics
When Rob Thompson caged two people to protest the plight of commercially
grown chickens, he was merely following a great Canadian political tradition.
Web
Items
Teaching
The Web To Think
With the help of surfers everywhere, the Mindpixel Corpus group hopes
to create an online consciousness.
In
The Foxhole With Maeve
An interview with internationally acclaimed author Maeve Binchy in which
she discovers the secret numerology of Tara Road.
Business
& Information Articles
Wipe
That Smile Off Your Face
Marketing research is an honourable profession — maybe. But when
your product is toilet paper ... ?
Where
Have All The Toasters Gone?
Being a student is tough; but being a student and trying to decide which
bank has the best Student Account is almost impossible.
Previous
Profiles:
America's
Coffee Lady
Virginia Christine
(March 5, 1920 - July 24, 1996)
If
you had your choice, who would you most like to wake up beside in
the morning? We'll
start with you, sir, in the back. "Kim
Bassinger!" Ah, yes.
An excellent choice. And you, ma'am? "Tom
Cruise!" We're certainly
a hot crowd today, aren't we? Any more suggestions? "Michelle
Pfeiffer!" "Gabriel
Byrne!" "Roger
Rabbit!" Roger Rabbit!?
... now wait a minute. "Pee
Wee Herman!" "Miss
Piggy!" Enough already!
We're all entitled to our preferences, but really. Some of you should
think about professional help. As for me,
I like waking up to a pleasant, smiling face and a good cup of coffee.
Which makes my candidate for the perfect "morning-mate"
obvious: Virginia Christine. That's "Mrs.
Olson" to the rest of you.Always smiling, always ready to listen
to other people's problems, and always ready with a hot cup of Folger's
coffee, Mrs. Olson was a friendly face in commercials for years. She was born
Virginia Kraft, taking the last name "Christine" for her
stage, movie and TV appearances. Never one of the better-known actresses,
she nevertheless made a good career for herself starring as the
heroine in The Mummy's Curse (1945) and in four Stanley
Kramer films. But it is
as Mrs. Olson that she has established her place in the North American
psyche. As
Mrs. Olson she comforted slightly overwrought young couples by offering
them Folgers Mountain Grown coffee. So
how surprised are we to find that her home town of Stanton, Iowa,
has a 120' coffee pot? Stanton
is a centre of Swedish culture rich in old traditions such as the
Santa Lucia Festival, held on the Saturday nearest December 13,
which ushers in the Christmas season. One of the highlights is crowning
a young woman with candles as "Queen of the Light." Another
popular tradition occurs on the last evening of April, during which
a group of men go from corner to corner singing "Skona Maj"
("Beautiful May"), and accepting invitations for a cup
of coffee by the residents. The 120'
coffee pot is the town's water tower painted to look like a Swedish
coffee pot. A handle, spout and lid have been added to complete
the effect. It has a capacity of 640,000 cups. In 2000, the city
added a 90' Teacup water tower.
America's
Coffee Lady
If
you had your choice, who would you most like to wake up beside in
the morning? 
So
how surprised are we to find that her home town of Stanton, Iowa,
has a 120' coffee pot?