The Rainier cowgirl is a big asset for this small town
Aug 16, 2024, 2:04 PM | Updated: 2:45 pm
An iconic sign for a shop that once sold T-shirts and jeans – in the shape of a giant “cowgirl” – has been resurrected in the Thurston County town of Rainier.
As reported earlier this month by The Chronicle, there was a sign in Rainier on display from 1982 to 2005. From a design and regional mythology perspective, this particular roadside attraction fit somewhere in between Kidd Valley’s old “Burger Babe” and the giant Winlock Egg.
Rainier’s icon was a giant plywood cowgirl dressed in cowboy boots, jeans, red blouse and a cowboy hat that functioned as a commercial beacon and a pre-smartphone aid to navigation – as in, “head over that-a-way, and then turn right just past the big cowgirl.”
The distinctive sign advertised a business run by the Marquis family in an old gas station in Rainier that, among other things, sold T-shirts with custom designs, and plenty of denim jeans.
And just how big is the cowgirl?
If the original plywood cowgirl had been standing up straight, she’d likely have stood about 20 feet tall. But, and it’s clearly a big but, she wasn’t standing up straight. Instead, the giant cowgirl of Rainier was leaning over the old gas pump roof like she was leaning up against a bar, and she was pointing her landmark posterior toward the street.
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The giant cowgirl of Rainier, Washington, was the brainchild of the late Don Marquis, the business owner, and his artist friend, the late Jack Krause.
Don Marquis passed away in 2003. Lisa Marquis Ryan, Don’s daughter, spoke with KIRO Newsradio Thursday.
While some say the cowgirl looks a bit like Daisy Duke, or that she might have been based on an old photo from somewhere, it turns out that the exact origins of the cowgirl are a little murky. Did Don Marquis ask his artist friend Jack Krause to create a giant, sexy cowgirl bent over the roof of his shop?
“I don’t know that that’s how it went down,” Ryan told KIRO Newsradio. “They were both drinkers, so it probably was over a beer or two, maybe.”
Don Marquis and his wife Teena sold the business in 1995. The sign remained with the building, but it was damaged and taken down in 2005. How and why it was damaged is subject to speculation. Some say a car struck it accidentally, others insist it was intentionally targeted for destruction. Whatever circumstances led to her demise, she was never forgotten and often reared up in the community’s collective memory.
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A new life for the Rainier cowgirl
Fast forward to a few years ago, and a man in Rainier named Mike Emmons decided he wanted to resurrect the cowgirl and commission a new replica sign.
Emmons owns a building in Rainier a few blocks from the old gas station that the original cowgirl had leaned against for all those years. The tenant in Emmons’ building is a graphic design and sign shop called Design-N-Signs. Jon and Monique Fisher are the married couple who own and operate the business.
Jon Fisher told KIRO Newsradio that in his quest to bring the denim-clad icon back to life, Mike Emmons wanted to make one change from the original sign.
“This time around, the owner wanted to have the cowgirl facing the street, not her butt facing the street, because that’s originally how it was,” Fisher explained. “And so that (original configuration) made it super provocative.”
Emmons’ forward-looking move, says Jon Fisher, was to turn the sign around.
Jon Fisher made the new sign from aluminum and vinyl, using a jigsaw to create the new sign’s shape to match the old. He had access to the plywood head from the original sign for creating the new face. For the torso and legs, he had only a few old photos to work with.
‘We did trim down her butt a little bit’
Monique Fisher, who grew up nearby and who remembers the sign from her high school days, says her husband’s version of the new cowgirl is nearly identical to the original, with one minor change to this town’s biggest cultural asset.
“He pretty much matched her face, at least about 98%,” Monique Fisher told KIRO Newsradio. “We did trim down her butt a little bit, because people would complain that she looked provocative.”
Both Monique Fisher and Lisa Marquis Ryan say those complaints about the cowgirl were only from a few people, and they were voiced many years ago.
Nowadays, Monique says that ever since the new cowgirl was installed on July 20, they’ve had nothing but positive feedback. People are stopping by Design-N-Signs just to share their memories.
“If they’re from Rainier, everybody remembers the cowgirl,” Fisher said. “I mean, we get people coming into our shop and tell us stories about ‘I remember when I was a kid,’ and it’s kind of neat to hear stories from different kinds of generations.”
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Lisa Marquis Ryan is thrilled to see the sign back on display in Rainier and she’s grateful to Michael Emmons for masterminding the cowgirl’s renaissance.
“It wouldn’t have happened without him,” Ryan said.
She only wishes her dad was here to see it, too.
“He would be beyond happy that she’s been resurrected,” Ryan said. “And giving some attention to the town of Rainier. He would love that (and) this would be delightful to him, for sure.”
It seems like the story of the Rainier cowgirl has a happy ending, whichever way it’s pointing.
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