Springfield, Illinois: Carpet Spartan HS Mascot

The road is under construction but drivable. Was the best time to see this, because you can park right in front -- school is out for summer!

My father, the late John Locker, a house/commercial estimator of building materials, had the idea to donate the "Viking Carpet" giant statue to Springfield Southeast High School as its mascot. In 1967 the lumber store where he worked was no longer selling Viking Carpet products, and the high school was being built right by our house. My father thought that if the braids and horns could be removed from the helmet, and the burgundy and brown Viking was painted in SSHS blue and gold colors, it would make a great display for the new school.

I remember the "Viking" very well since I played in the store at night while my father finished many an estimate!

"Spartan" in front of Southeast high school, originally at a prominent home building company. The company was Barker-Lubin Homebuilders, and the statue was a Viking, with horned helmet, and wearing a "skirt"! The company must have sold something made by a "Viking company -- I think it may have been carpet.

My Dad worked at the homebuilding company for 25 years, and he once told me he had come up with the idea of giving the statue to the school district. They altered the helmet, and gave him a sword, and erected it over the front entrance to the high school. The school sports teams are "The Southeast Spartans." He received a makeover in the early '90s with a new paint job and a bigger sword.