Cross Country
Those Pink Birds in the Red
So long to the perpetual summer of the plastic pink flamingo. The wobbly legged lawn ornaments once indigenous to south Florida became not only a symbol of regional pride but of American kitsch, and, for some, postmodern cool. But after producing about 20 million of the polypropylene birds, Union Products of Leominster, Mass., swooned under a cocktail of high energy prices, a jump in plastic resin costs, and a loss of financing. Its last brood of flamingos came in June. The company, which churns out other plastic products, will close for good November 1.
The plastic pink flamingo was hatched in the brain of amateur artist and Union Products employee Don Featherstone in 1957. While the original flamingo is gone, birds of similar feathers are still plentiful because of a flood of cheap knockoffs. In the meantime, management is hoping that the original bird might rise from the ashes. Two companies have expressed interest in buying Featherstone's molds.
With Will Sullivan, Danielle Knight, Bret Schulte and Associated Press
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