chrisphan.com: Signs in Winona

Fake billboard

In downtown Winona, there is a billboard advertising a business called Winona Outfitters. This area offers a number of recreational activities, such as canoeing in the lake or backwaters of the Mississippi, climbing up a sheet of ice on the bluffs overlooking our city, and so it’s no surprise that you will find this kind of business here. But you won’t find this particular retailer, and that’s not because of the age of the billboard, which despite its vintage look, dates back to around 2020.

A billboard with a white background, a brown stripe and arrows, and white text on those brown elements. The billboard reads Winona Outfitters and quality surplus goods. The billboard is in a wooden frame on the side of a reddish-brown brick building. — This billboard was brought to you by Squarespace.

The story of this billboard goes back to 1971, when a girl named Winona Horowitz was born nearby. That girl grew up to be a famous actress, although you probably know her by her stage name, Winona Ryder. In 2020, Squarespace ran a Super Bowl commercial featuring both Winona Ryder and Winona, Minnesota. In the ad, Winona (the actress) explains to a waitress that she has traveled a long way to find the real Winona (and also to make a website). After the waitress helpfully explains that Winona is everything between Pleasant Valley Road and the Mississippi, the commercial cuts to Winona (the actress) wondering through Winona (the town). In a voice-over, we hear Winona say There's something about this place, something that feels so me, and then we see a montage of signs featuring her name, including the Winona 7 movie theater, the Winona City Hall, and our fake billboard at 1:02.

Although the website Winona builds in the ad has since become defunct (https://welcometowinona.com now gives you a 404), the billboard put up for the ad lives on.

All the candidates

I moved to Winona during an election year, and I saw campaign signs for two very different candidates on this fence and was very confused.

A fence lining a sidewalk has a
number of different campaign signs attached. — Putting a campaign sign on this fence is a tradition for Winona-area candidates or surrogates.

The owners of this house, located on a highly-visible corner, allow any campaign to place a sign on their fence, leading to a vibrant mishmash of parties and philosophies. Early voting starts in Minnesota this Friday, and Minnesota voters can find official voting information at mnvotes.org.