Curious Iowa: Why is Cedar Rapids known as City of Five Seasons?

CEDAR RAPIDS — New York City’s “Big Apple” nickname originated from horse racing. Chicago became the “Windy City” because of, well, the wind and politicians “full of hot air”. Cedar Rapids is known as the “City of Five Seasons.” Why is that?

Curious Iowa is a new series from The Gazette that seeks to answer your questions about the state, its culture and the people who live here. One Curious Iowan wondered, “Why is Cedar Rapids known as the ‘City of Five Seasons’? And what is the fifth season?” We set out to find the answer.

What does it mean?

Ask a Cedar Rapids resident to name the city’s fifth season, and you’re likely to get some uncertain answers.

For lifelong resident Julian Klepach, the fifth season is the transitional season between cold weather and warmer temperatures. Given Iowa’s weather patterns, that’s a logical interpretation, but the intended meaning is more abstract than that.

The core idea behind “City of Five Seasons” is that the fifth season is a time to enjoy life and find beauty in every day.

Life is the sum of all the seasons with which it is filled. And if we have time to enjoy the things most important to us, life is rich and full indeed. In Cedar Rapids there is time enough … time to enjoy the seasons as they pass. Extra time. Precious time. A fifth season.

The slogan dates back more than 50 years.

In 1968, Chamber of Commerce publicity chairman E.W. “Bill” Munsell was given the task of coming up with a promotional idea that could be used in brochures to attract new residents to the city.

Munsell passed the challenge on to two men working for the advertising agency he was executive vice president of, Creswell, Munsell, Schubert & Zirbel. Together, Munsell, the firm’s art director Gary Anderson and writer Ron Howes came up with the slogan and the tree of five seasons logo.

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The original Five Seasons logo featured the tagline “Time for life,” though it was later edited to “Time to enjoy.”

Flash forward to today and this slogan lives on in its representation of the values of Cedar Rapids.

Time to enjoy

Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell said she believes that the City of Five Seasons slogan’s highlighting of “time to enjoy” has taken on a new meaning since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think we have really seen people grasp quality of life in a way that they didn’t before,” O’Donnell said. “There’s been this recognition of what’s important, and time is the big winner in that.”

O’Donnell compared living in Cedar Rapids to living Dallas, Texas, a city her family previously called home.

“It took me 20 minutes to go to the grocery store. Here [in Cedar Rapids], we have a tendency to get upset if it takes us 12 minutes to get across town,” she said. “That’s a gift of time. It’s a little bit like a time machine when you live here.”

City of smells

The “City of Five Seasons” slogan has been parodied through the years. One of the most popular calls Cedar Rapids the “City of Five Smells.”

Some of the smells are good, said Tom Kleopfer, who moved to Cedar Rapids in 1973.

“You can always tell by the smell downtown what Quaker Oats is making,” said Kleopfer.

Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries is a favorite among many residents.

There are other smells, too, which vary in source and popularity depending on who you ask.

Nicknames of seasons past

Before Cedar Rapids became the City of Five Seasons, it was known by a different moniker in the 1880s. In those years, the parlor was the best room in the house and Cedar Rapids’ manicured lawns and bustling downtown earned it the nickname “Parlor City.”

Later, before Creswell, Mussell, Schubert & Zirbel landed on “City of Five Seasons,” other slogans were tested. They included “Cedar Rapids Suits Me — It Will You” and the mouthful “Proud of Yesterday, Progressive Today and Promising Tomorrow.”

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Though not an official nickname, around that same time, Cedar Rapids and the rabbit became intertwined thanks to a marketing campaign for the local carnival.

In 1896, Cedar Rapids began hosting a carnival. In 1898, the rabbit became a marketing symbol along with the slogan “See Der Rabbits.”

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The rabbits were so popular that they stuck with the carnival for years — and the Cedar Rapids baseball team would be known as the Rabbits, and, later, the Bunnies. The last time “See Der Rabbits” was used for the carnival in 1911.

What makes Cedar Rapids what it is today?

Decades after Cedar Rapids became the City of Five Seasons, does that slogan still apply? What makes the city what it is today?

Klepach said it’s the niche communities and sense of connection, “It almost has a small city feel in a big city.”

Another lifelong resident, Claire Van Erdewyk, echoed Klepach. She said the city’s vibrant residents makes it a unique place to live.

“I think Cedar Rapids is really blooming and coming into itself,” Van Erdewyk said. “I can’t wait to see where it’s headed in its future.”

Comments: bailey.cichon@thegazette.com

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