Monday Memo

Hot!Hot!Hot! Pink Flamingos!

Pink flamingos are the ultimate in lawn adornment. Love them or hate them, pink flamingos can give any home a little tropical elegance.

In 1956, Union Products of Leominster, Massachusetts hired a serious sculptor and classical art student named Don Featherstone. One of his first projects was to create a 3-D flamingo. Since live flamingos were not available, Don designed his iconic bird from National Geographic photographs. The original flamingos sported detailed wooden legs but proved too costly and were replaced with metal legs.

The 1950s was perfect timing for the pink flamingo.  America was moving to the suburbs with new lawns that needed ornamentation. People were also becoming more mobile, traveling to hotels and motels named after this flamboyant flamingo. It was also a time of bright, bold colors with hot pink a most popular color for everything from appliances to Cadillacs.
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Today, the company sells over a million flamingos per year. Authentic flamingos always have Don Featherstone’s signature under their tails. Each has a yellow beak with a black tip and they are only sold in pairs. Tacky or whimsical, a yard full of hot pink flamingos is always guaranteed to bring a smile.