Downtown Popcorn Wagon a Tradition Since 1979

Summer must almost be here because the popcorn wagon is back in its accustomed place on , where it has been charming locals and visitors for more than 30 years. Vera Johansen had seen a popcorn wagon while visiting a daughter in Colorado, loved the idea of it and decided it would be a good project for her after retirement as a science librarian at . She located a 1918 wagon made by C. Cretors & Co. of Chicago which was being restored in Rhinelander, Wisconsin.

The type of wagon that Johansen bought was identified as a Cretors horse-drawn model C by Bob Pearson, whose company, Pearson Creations in Olathe, Kansas, has been collecting, restoring and building replicas of the Cretors popcorn wagons and trucks for more than 40 years. (The Cretors Co. has been a successful concession business run by five generations of Cretors since 1885.)

“This horse-drawn model was made as early as 1903 and available through the 1930s,” Pearson told me. The 1918 date ascribed to the Northfield wagon “would be a good guess as to the year of its production,” he said. Pearson estimated that there are fewer than 20 original model C wagons still in use and only 50 or more of the larger model D.

Johansen opened her popcorn wagon stand on Bridge Square in May of 1979. She enjoyed her interaction with the customers (and with the ducks who would come up from the Cannon River to eat spilled kernels). As often happens today at the wagon, she was asked questions about the town and thus became an “unofficial hostess” for Northfield. She told the Northfield News in 1979, “It seems when they come to the popcorn wagon, they’re always in a pleasant mood. So it’s fun.” Her daughters Carol and Jeanine would help out, as would her visiting grandchildren, so it became a family affair.

When Johansen was 76 years old, she sold the wagon to Paul Sherwin in the fall of 1988, who then sold it to his brother and sister-in-law, Wayne and Beth Sherwin. Wayne (who had been owner of a gas station with Paul) bought a fan to push the aroma of fresh popcorn into the square to tempt passersby and loved this retirement enterprise until his sudden death in March of 1994.

In May of 1994 the wagon was purchased by the senior citizens of Northfield who have run the wagon ever since and taken care of its upkeep. Profits go into the operation of the . The popcorn wagon is open noon-5 p.m. weekdays and 10-5 on Saturdays. There are extended hours on special event nights on Bridge Square, such as Thursday community band concerts. Three sizes of popcorn are sold, from $1.50 to $3.00, with a $1 charge for pop and water. There is a donation bucket to help with cleaning and repair costs for the wagon.

The popcorn wagon has been such a part of town life that when local artist David Allen painted a winter scene in Bridge Square, he included the wagon even though the wagon is stored in September after Defeat of Jesse James Days.

As for Johansen, she continued to take pride in the wagon until her death at the age of 96 in 2008, having left a legacy Northfielders hope will last for many more years to come.