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PRINCETON: Mascot in waiting

Landau will introduce Lindi’s successor

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
   For more than 35 years, a stuffed Icelandic ram named Lindi stood on Nassau Street in front of Landau, the woolen store located across the street from Princeton University.
   ”He was our mascot,” said store president Robert Landau on Wednesday, remembering a ram that has not been seen since it was stolen in July.
   But Mr. Landau offered some news that might have some important ramifications for the community. Through a contact in Iceland, Mr. Landau recently obtained a roughly $6,000 replacement for Lindi, called Bjartur.
   The taxidermied ram, whose name means fair skinned or pale, is not quite ready to make his Princeton debut. Mr. Landau, speaking from the back office at the store he and his brother, Henry, run, wants to make sure Bjartur is sturdy enough for when the young passersby invariably want to sit on him.
   ”He’s in hiding until we can get everything done,” said Henry Landau on Thursday.
   For now, Bjartur is still in the wood crate in which he arrived in about three weeks ago. Robert Landau said he was “very pleased” upon seeing him, although he was not about to let Bjartur be photographed Wednesday.
   An unveiling of the ram is planned “soon,” he said.
   Mr. Landau said he hoped the public will like Bjartur, “but we don’t know. It’s like having a baby.”
   Lindi first appeared in 1976. In time, he became a part of the fabric of the community. In 1997, some college students stole Lindi, only to return him. Last year, he was stolen again; at the time of the disappearance. Mr. Landau indicated a “ramsom” note was not left behind.
   Still, the theft of Lindi made news across the region and even in Iceland where Mr. Landau said it was reported in Lindi’s home country. He said he even received calls from people from that country.
   This time, Bjartur will be attached to something so he “won’t be roaming loose anymore,” Mr. Landau said.