Keep off the grass … or maybe not The first pink flamingo ornaments, sold in 1952, were flat and made of plywood. Remember, people who put out lawn ornaments aren’t doing it for themselves - they’re doing it for you.” “As long as they keep buying them,” he says with a laugh, “I really don’t care. We once produced a model called the Flamingo Deluxe that looked quite natural - with wooden yellow legs - but that didn’t sell.”įeatherstone, who insists that “all great art began as tacky,” says he’s fine with folks poking fun at his life’s work, which sells for about $9 a pair at Kmart. “My original model had wooden dowel legs, but they cost too much to make, and plastic wasn’t strong enough, so we went with metal rods. But turning it into plastic forced me to be an engineer, to work with the strengths and limitations of the plastic. “The flamingo was one of my first assignments,” says Featherstone, 61, whose signature has been stamped on the birds (“like Calvin Klein”) since 1985. Having worked there ever since, he bought the lawn ornaments manufacturer from its retiring owners last year. More than 20 million have been sold since 1957, when Featherstone - fresh out of art school - designed the birds (there are two poses) for Union Products in Leominster, Mass. I think one would look elegant in front of the White House.” “The flamingo isn’t tacky,” says creator Donald Featherstone. Pink plastic lawn flamingos turn 40 this month. And for the pranksters among us, unbridled glee. They stand and deliver - what, we’re not sure.
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