Northwestern National Bank - Weatherball

Today a friend on facebook brought up this old Minnesota Jingle...do you remember it?

When the Weatherball is glowing red, warmer weather's just ahead.

When the Weatherball is shining white, colder weather is in sight.

When the Weatherball is wearing green, no weather changes are foreseen.

Colors blinking by night and day say, precipitation's on the way.

So,  intrigued I had to so some checking and I found out some interesting facts. 

During its 33-year existence, the Weatherball did more than flash forecasts. It was perched atop the Northwestern National Bank building in downtown Minneapolis, and became a landmark on the downtown skyline, a common word in the local vocabulary, and the basis for a jingle that all residents could recite.

Hailed as the tallest illuminated sign between Chicago and the West Coast, the 12-story Weatherball was introduced to Minneapolis amid great fanfare on October 7, 1949. Built to withstand winds of up to 140 miles per hour, it survived hurricane-force gales just three days after it began operating.

Unfortunately, the Weatherball succumbed to a fire on Thanksgiving Day in 1982 that destroyed the bank building. It was not rebuilt.

Here are a couple of fun fact links...

Song only :MN Historical Society. Click under image on Real Player.

History of Weatherball in MN.

Info regarding the history of this bank - click here.

A interesting quote I ran across regarding the announcement by Northwestern National Bank (or possibly it was called Norwest Bank by then) regarding why the weatherballs were being discontinued was because they "no longer matched the bank's corporate identity."

"That's correct," said Dave Moore, a local news anchor. "The weatherball was usually right."

Here was another little nugget I thought I would share as well because my husband grew up in Richfield and his parents could have been one of those who received the "Magic Key".  What is the "Magic Key"?

Well, in 1954 the Richfield News ad reports Mr. Weatherball has a new location at 78th and Penn.  He now has a treasure chest that only a "Magic Key" can open.  Apparently all the residents living in Richfield, Bloomington and Edina received a "key" in the mail but only one would open the treasure!  It was the "Magic Key"!  What was in the treasure box you ask?  Well a treasure...it contained more than $10 cash!  WOW!!