Part-time artist, full-time wind-up merchant (Picture: Mark Gubin)

Mark Gubin may sometimes work as an artist and photographer, but he’s a full-time wind-up merchant.

Decades ago, he realised that passengers landing at Milwaukee airport would see his house as they descended.

So he painted ‘WELCOME TO CLEVELAND’ on his roof.

According to Mr. Gubin, the sign has caused a lot of confusion for flyers over the years. Which, of course, is its intention.


He recalls one incident where passengers on a Denver to Cleveland flight due to stop in Milwaukee en route started panicking because they thought the plane had skipped its layover.

And Mr. Gubin still keeps a letter from former Common Council president Ben E. Johnson, in which Mr. Johnson complains the sign is causing ‘outrage and panic’ among air passengers.



Keep up the good work, Mr. Gubin.

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