The Original Pink Flamingo Lawn Ornament Saved!

The original pink flamingo lawn ornament is coming back! The old Central Massachusetts manufacturer (Union Products Inc.) went out of business in 2006 due too the rising cost for plastic resin and electricity, along with other financial problems. A man named Don Featherstone designed the molds for the Original pink flamingo. He used photos of flamingos from National geographic Magazine to sculpt a base for the molds. Featherstone’s designs hit store shelves in the late 1950’s when pink was the hot color, and many Americans wanted to add “personal” touches to their suburban lawns.

The flamingos eventually became a symbol of bad taste, because they were everywhere. Developments and Neighborhood Associations went as far as banning flamingo lawn ornaments, even now; the birds are still banned in most places. I have always liked them.

The pink lawn ornaments quickly became the targets for pranksters, like gnomes, they are swiped from your yard almost as fast as you put them up. Some have even gone on road trips, with the kidnappers sending photos of their travels to their owners. I have always thought that was a great prank.

There has been many other people that tried to copy Featherstone’s design, capitalizing on it popularity. However, none can compare to the quality and details of the one Featherstone created all those years ago.

When the Union Product Inc. went out of business the future of Featherstone’s design was unsure. This caused pink flamingo lovers everywhere to snatch up any remaining stock in store and any secondhand Featherstone flamingo’s they could find, fearing they would be gone for good.

A New York manufacturer (HMC International LLC) bought the copyrights and the plastic mold of the original pink flamingos for an undisclosed amount, saving it from extinction. HMC International LLC plans to resume production in Westmoreland, NY by Labor Day.

The only losers in this is the city of Leominster now that flamingos have moved to New York. Trying to keep the flamingo legacy alive, despite the closer of Union Products. At the 50^th anniversary celebration of the Featherstone bird, civic activists plan to unveil an “environmentally friendly” flamingo made out of recycled plastic. Supposedly with a “more cuddly look”. They want to try to mass-produce their alternative flamingo.

The original ornaments usually come in boxed sets of two, between $10 to $20 dollars. They stand almost three feet high in multiple positions, the two most popular are the head erect, the other bending down as if to munch on grass. The legs made of spindly metal rods for planting into the ground. To spot a Featherstone original look for Featherstone’s signature etched into the plastic rear-end of the flamingo.