![]() The Up and Coming Airline Tampa,” an offset lithographic 1978 advertising poster shot by Peter C. And as a 1957 LIFE Magazine cover story attests, Americans were flocking to Caribbean resorts in record numbers.įlorida has long been associated in America’s collective consciousness with pink flamingos. In fact, Americans had long cherished the exotic bird, native to the Caribbean and parts of South America, and this love affair came to a head in 1957 with an explosion in popularity of Caribbean culture.Ĭaribbean-American pop star Harry Belafonte’s album Calypso, which contained the hit single Banana Boat Song (Day-O), dominated the Billboard charts in 1956. Art historian Karal Ann Marling explains that in the 1950s, pink was perceived as “young, daring – and omnisexual.” She points out that popular celebrities like Mamie Eisenhower, Jayne Mansfield and Elvis Presley loved to incorporate pink in their wardrobes, their bedroom decor and – in the case of Elvis – their cars.įeatherstone’s design wasn’t the first time flamingos swooped into American culture, either. ![]() In a famous scene from The Graduate, actor Dustin Hoffman expresses disillusionment in the “great future in plastics.”Īnd then there’s the color pink. “Elvis, the Artist, and Pink Cadillac,” a 1988 painting by Donald Paterson, now in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, a gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. In the postwar era, cheap, sturdy and versatile plastics were becoming an increasingly popular material for mass-produced commercial products, from Tupperware to Model 500 rotary phones.ĭesign historian Jeffrey Meikle discusses how this era was referred to as “a new Rococo marked by extravagance, excess, and vulgarity.” Many design and cultural critics pilloried plastic for its ability to easily depart from established design principles, though consumers and manufacturers kept the craze going. The late 1950s also witnessed the solidification of a commodity-driven suburban way of life, along with a host of new anxieties over class and status. The year 1957 was the year of Elvis Presley’s Jailhouse Rock and the ‘57 Chevy, of popular plastic toys like Wham-O’s hula hoop and the Frisbee – all icons of midcentury nostalgia. ![]() Photo of lawn ornaments now in the collection of the National Museum of American History.Īll three of the ornament’s basic elements – plastic material, pink color and the flamingo design – have a particular relevance to the late 1950s. His most notable was designing a pair of pink flamingo lawn ornaments, in 1987. His first project there was designing Charlie the Duck lawn ornament. He and his wife were known for wearing matching outfits handmade by his better half, Nancy Featherstone, everyday from the late 1970s onward.In 1957, having studied at the Worcester Art Museum school, Don Featherstone (1936-2015) landed a job with Union Products, Inc., in Leominster, Ma. Beyond his pop culture dominance, he also won an Ig Nobel prize, an annual satirical award for offbeat creations.įeatherstone’s quirkiness extended well beyond his plastic creations. ![]() The pink flamingo in the Disney release was aptly named “Featherstone.”įeatherstone, who tended his own flock of 57 plastic flamingos, eventually rose to become the president of Union Products and served in the top role until his retirement in 2000. The pink flamingo has inspired countless pop culture moments, including John Waters’ 1972 film Pink Flamingos and Disney’s 2011 animated feature Gnomeo & Juliet. A pair can be found today on Amazon for $15.94. It sold in pairs, one flamingo upright, the other pecking at the lawn, for a total of $2.76 at Sears ($23.36 in today’s dollars). The pink flamingo was his second assignment at the company, following his creation of a plastic lawn duck, which never quite earned the same ubiquitous placement. After he graduated from the school of the Worcester Art Museum, he took a job with Union Products, which made a variety of plastic lawn ornaments. He was simply following the latest and greatest trend: plastics. He created the iconic yard object in 1957, shortly after he graduated from art school. Featherstone, a sculptor, passed away Monday at the age of 79, but his genius invention remains.
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