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Local Construction crew unearths long-neglected shrine in Sun Prairie
"I knew it was there," Klein said of the shrine that he thinks was built in the 1950s. "But I didn't realize it still survived."
Lisa Stone, who has co-authored a book about shrines and grottos in the upper Midwest, said bathtub shrines became popular in the 1950s as people began spending money after years of frugality during WWII.
"Lots and lots and lots of bathrooms were remodeled," said Stone, who lives in Spring Lake, Wis. "All of a sudden the old oval bathtubs made the absolutely perfect devotional shrine. The bathtub is a very heartfelt, but simple, way of having a ready-made shrine."
The shrines typically are constructed by burying the bottom portion of an upended bathtub and sometimes are encased in stone or brick. They often are painted pale blue — a color associated with the Virgin Mary — and remnants of sky blue paint could be seen on the inside of the Sun Prairie shrine, which had a metal cross affixed to the top.
