Why Does America Love The Pink Flamingo?
Rick London
Pink Flamingo collectibles are either totally loved or completely ignored. Of course all this depends on taste and subjectivity. Some consider it art as others consider the pink flamingo worthless. The popularity of the pink flamingo as a decorative object dates back to the 1940's a company called Union Products in a small Ma. Town called Leminster.
They produced plastic animal ornaments for the front yard, but had not yet thought of the pink flamingo. The items, like their predecessor the flamingo, were so tacky they were cute, and sales were brisk
Union's lawn ornaments were were cute, but not really known to be but there was not a lot to them. Just painted two dimensional animals. So Union recruited a serious art student who worked at Union named Don Featherstone. Although he was a commited sculptor and classical art student, his first project was to redesign their popular duck and this time make it 3-dimensional The company figured it would be a bigger seller. The company was wrong and the 3d duck ended up in the local park. He had used a live duck as a model but still no real success. He then figured people wanted color and something exotic. Pink Flamingos came to mind but he could not find a live one for a model so he turned to National Geographic.
Using clay, he built his prototype. then used to make a plaster cast. The plaster cast, in turn, was used to form the molds for the plastic. The original design called for detailed wooden legs, but they proved to be too costly and were replaced by the metal ones still seen today. While the exact date was never recorded, the first pink flamingo was created several years before 1960. Around 1957 seemed to be perfect timing for the flamingo. The American population was moving out of the city and behind white picket fence lawns, a perfect resting place for the big pink bird. The late 1950's fashion trends were bright, bold colors. Grays and blacks were the colors of the early and mid '50's. Nobody wanted a part of them anymore.
The plastic industry was thriving and now allowed for hot colors like bright green, vivid ruby, and, of course, hot flamingo pink. Pink refrigerators, washing machines, and of course who didn't want a pink Caddie? The love of the pink flamingo was short-lived due to timing. The 1960's was a time of rebellion, especially against anything man-made, and the plastic flamingo was certainly not heaven-sent (though many serious collectors still consider it so). All the major department stores, (Sears being the biggest back the time) banished the items from their shelves due to poor sales.
Collectors were only temporarly discouraged and found them at flea markets and niche stores. Many collectors are still very serious about the pink flamingo and go so far as to travel with them. We all know that what is art to one person is garbage to the next. Bans have been placed on pink flamingos all over the country. As a result, Union Plastics was forced to introduce a blue flamingo to work inside the laws of city ordinances. But the angry anti-flamingo-for-yard-art communies changed the laws to ban all plastic flamingos. Many residents refused to obey the obey this law which has rarely been enforced in most towns that have it.
A half century later Pink Flamingo collectibles are hotter when they were first sold. Collectors are very serious and visit trade shows and flea markets regularly in search of the mighty pink flamingo. They are some of the most desirable items for hobbyists around the country. The Internet has become a welcome tool for collectors where the majority of the shopping activity happens, which also saves them travel money. Collectors are no longer just interested in the lawn scultors. They want tshirts, beer steins, coffee mugs, caps, hoodies, and any other type of collectible item available as long as it has the glorious pink flamingo on it.
Cartoonist and e-store owner runs several stores that sales a large variety of rare brand new pink flamingo collectibles http://www.printfection.com/londonstimestees/Pink-Flamingos/_s_83215) America's Favorite Collectible: The Pink Flamingo, and
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