Billboards for Submarines?

Around 1954 Ivar Haglund anchored billboards to the bottom of Puget Sound. He said that he thought it would be a good way to advertise his restaurant, Ivar's Chowder, to anyone who happened to be passing by in a submarine. The modern-day Ivar's restaurant chain is now raising the billboards from the sea. Or are they? Some suspect a hoax. From the Seattle Times:

In the past month, the company has had divers bring up three of the billboards — about 7 by 22 feet and made of stainless steel — using a map found in their founder's immense collection of artifacts stored on the top floor of the chain's headquarters at Pier 54.
Included in that collection are Haglund's LP vinyl collection, his rosé wine collection, illustrations, photos and... apparently the actual naval architectural drawings, permit and location map for the billboards.The operative word is "apparently."
"This still could be a hoax. Someone could be doing something," says Bob Donegan, president of Ivar's. "That's why we're being careful on the authentication."
Of course, if it was a hoax, a prime suspect would be the Ivar's chain itself.
Ivar's is promoting the find of the underwater billboards on its Web site, which includes a 2 ½-minute mini-documentary about finding that first billboard Aug. 21 off Alki Beach.
It's also started running 30-second commercials about the billboards during prime time, budgeting more than $100,000 for television ads through mid-October.

The article goes on to say that Seattle historian Paul Dorpat, who's writing a book about Haglund, thinks the billboards are the real deal. (Thanks, Bob!)

Advertising

Posted on Sun Sep 20, 2009


Comments

Ivar was a genuine character in the Puget Sound area, meaning he was a bit eccentric, sometimes wacky, and didn't really give a fart what authorities thought.

I'm inclined to believe it's real, just because nobody at the current corporate chain would be that clever.

Ivar's bio:
http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=2499
Posted by Frosted Donut  on  Mon Sep 21, 2009  at  01:47 PM
Seven feet by twenty-two feet of stainless steel? In 1954? How much would that cost?
Posted by Mr henderson  on  Mon Sep 21, 2009  at  02:31 PM
Ah, the spirit of Ivar lives on at his company. It's a hoax. Well played, Ivar's!

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010253767_ivars12m.html
Posted by Frosted Donut  on  Fri Nov 13, 2009  at  07:25 AM
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.