PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — You’ve probably heard a million times that “real Portlanders” don’t carry umbrellas — we’re tougher than the rain.
“I think usually if I see someone with an umbrella I assume they’re a tourist,” Portlander Jeff Cropp said.
“I think I have one somewhere, but I don’t use it,” Erin Lahrson said.
So if you buy the myth, it might seem off that one famous Portlander would carry one all the time.
The bronze umbrella man sculpture in Pioneer Courthouse Square, titled “Allow Me,” was an anonymous gift to the city in 1984 in the name of Harry Schwartz, a New York department store Magnate with family ties in Portland.
“A lot of people are like, ‘He’s carrying an umbrella, Portlanders don’t carry umbrellas,’ but we do,” said Keith Lachowicz with the Regional Arts and Culture Council.
Artist J. Seward Johnson created 7 versions all from the same casting, and they live all over, from Chicago to Los Angeles. Portland’s is most iconic.
“Allow Me” got a makeover in the summer of 2017 when the Square was renovated. The 460 pound sculpture was removed for 6 months while art caretakers cleaned, repainted it and put a protective coating on it.
“The point of the sculpture is a symbol of Portland and helping make this space here friendly,” Lachowicz said.