116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Time Machine: The Gazette’s holiday wreath
It first appeared in 1960 after building remodel
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The municipal holiday tree, the downtown decorations, the neighborhood light displays — the holiday season is upon us.
One of the holiday traditions no longer with us, though, is the huge, fresh evergreen wreath that appeared above The Gazette’s front door when the newspaper office was at 500 Third Ave. SE.
The wreaths, 8- to 9-feet in diameter, began appearing on the building in 1960. Installing them required ladders, a crane and some brave workers.
Bah, humbug
The wreaths, beautiful as they were, were a bit at odds with the tastes of Clarence Miller, the newspaper publisher from 1884 to 1912. Miller didn’t believe in “tinsel or trappings,” Gazette reporter A.A. Spurgeon wrote in 1946.
Spurgeon wrote that Miller had in mind other big aspirations: “The Gazette stands today as a monument to his understanding of the human side of a newspaper as well as the mechanical and financial. To the members of the editorial and news force, … he became an understanding friend, a pillar of strength in times of trouble and a loved and respected employer.”
Remodeling, wreaths
The Gazette building underwent a full remodel in 1960 that cost around $200,000 — about $2.14 million in today’s dollars. The old entrance on the Third Avenue SE side was closed off to provide more office space on the first floor.
The new entrance, facing Fifth Street SE, was two stories high, made of onyx-colored, reconstituted granite, aluminum and glass.
“Old English-style aluminum letters will spell out ‘The Gazette’ over the entrance door,” The Gazette reported in a special section.
Inside, an open, three-flight staircase led from the ground level to the second floor.
The gleaming new entrance, with its abundance of windows, provided the perfect backdrop for the first giant wreath to be hung above The Gazette lettering.
Roger Turnbull, who worked for general contractor Loomis Bros., was photographed scaling a ladder and using a pulley and rope to hang the 9-foot, illuminated wreath on the window Dec. 2, 1960.
The wreath was aligned with the building’s second floor, where the newsroom and executive offices were located.
From then on, the wreath became a holiday tradition, remaining in place for the full holiday season.
Gazette photos of the annual wreath have been sporadic, some published and some not.
Archie Nickes, an employee of Nashville-based Cummings & Co., formerly the Bob Smythe Sign Co., hung the giant wreath on Nov. 11, 1970.
A photo envelope in The Gazette archives contained several shots of the wreath being hung above the front door Nov. 26, 1974. A Nesper Signs’ logo appeared on the roof of a truck in the corner of one shot. The photos never saw print, with other holiday pictures taking precedence during a time of newsprint shortages.
The archives contained another wreath photo from 1982. In this photo, a Nesper extension ladder supported a basket holding two workers who were fastening the big wreath to the window. Lights are evident on the wreath.
Electricity for the lights apparently came from a cord hanging from the roof of the building, extending to the wreath.
In 2008, the wreath surrounded a banner proclaiming The Gazette’s 125th anniversary.
Over the years, some of the wreaths were decorated with bows and ornaments, others with lights and a big red bow.
My memories of the wreaths mainly concern their size. Looking at them outside from street level was grand, but seeing them from inside as you descended the stairs was even more dramatic.
After the wreaths
Besides the wreath, The Gazette’s celebration of the holidays included carolers, led by Oline Stigers, manager of the Newspapers in Education program, in the holiday parades. The newspaper also ran a full page of holiday greetings listing the names of all its employees.
The Gazette sold the building that had housed its news operations since 1923 to developer Steve Emerson in December 2012. Emerson remodeled the building, moving the entrance to face Sixth Street SE, before the Shuttleworth & Ingersoll law firm moved in in 2023.
The Gazette found a new office downtown in August 2020 at 116 Third St. SE.
And while there are no more giant wreaths, there has been The Gazette-sponsored Festival of Trees. The event, begun in 1990 by St. Luke’s Auxiliary, had ended in 2007. It was resurrected in 2015 by The Gazette, the Cedar Rapids Jaycees, Cedar Rapids Area Association of Realtors and Meth-Wick Community,
By 2019, The Gazette was its lone sponsor, billing it as “The Gazette’s Festival of Trees.” More than 11,000 people visited this year’s festival — with lots of “tinsel and trappings“ — in November.
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