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Enjoyment of the whispering winds, the zephyrs, the airstreams of the Sierra Nevada and Great Basin areas of the United States in a recreational vehicle.

The Plastic Pink Flamingo (PPF)

Kitsch?

What is it with the RV enthusiast and the PPF phenomena?

Something to do with a 'trailer trash' mentality?

Or maybe it brings back memories of the heyday at the beginning of the modern RV phenomena?

Or maybe just a sense of humor and comfort with oneself?

Lawn and garden ornaments have been around as long as there have been defined lawns and gardens. When World War II finished there was a lot of new technology and a lot of people building countries and homes and lawns and gardens. The market was ripe for Union Products of Leominster, Massachusetts to introduce their “Plastics for the Lawn” in 1946. These were silhouette ornaments of frogs, dogs, and ducks. In 1956 Union Products hired a student of classical sculpture Don Featherstone to design more realistic versions of these lawn ornaments. First was a duck modeled on a bird in a nearby park. Then a flamingo based on pictures from National Geographic magazine. The rest was history.

See more Pink Flamingos - photo galleries and information

Resources

History and lore

• Pink Flamingos – a history of useless information
• On Stagnant Pond -- CyberSalute to the American Pink Flamingo - Phlamingo Philosophy: Eagles may soar but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
• Interview with Don Featherstone - Why Not My Duck? An Interview with Don Featherstone -- 25 Feb 97
• The Daily Beacon Online - Pink flamingo fans dislike new, bare-bottom lawn ornaments – AP Pink flamingo fans dislike new, bare-bottom lawn ornaments. 17 January 2002
• Janeyzee's Flamingo Pages - “For those of us who adore the pink plastic flamingo and other crazy, tacky flamingo collectibles, I have compiled a list of sites where these birds can be found. Take a look at all of them - it'll brighten your day!”
• The pink flamingo at 40 - By CAROL RUST Copyright 1997 Houston Chronicle
• CBS News | Flamingo Flap | January 17, 2002 13:12:08
• Unravel the Gavel - PPF’s sighted in NH… Flying in the Face of Convention! by Kathy Greer
• Archive--pink flamingoes - Pink flamingoes in the front yard. Maria Moncur. Utah State University
• SignOnSanDiego.com > Home Improvement - YARD SHTICK For a garden hoot, try pink flamingos or kitschy gnomes. By Cathy Lubenski STAFF WRITER May 25, 2003
• David Templeton's Seldom Seen: Flamboyant flamingos fade while geese gather
• letterboxing.org - Native Son - “Don Featherstone is the original designer and creator of the Plastic Pink Flamingo, which is the only bird native exclusively to Leominster, and we are darned proud of it!”

PPF Activism

• Join the Plastic Pink Flamingo Boycott! Give unsigned flamingos the bird. Alice Shirrell Kaswell / Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) 12dec01 – does your PPF have a Don Featherstone signature across its rear?
• HotAIR - Join the Plastic Pink Flamingo Boycott!

Places selling PPF's and related items

• Don Featherstone Pink Flamingo Lawn Ornaments, Plastic Flamingo – from the Collector Connection
• The Original Pink Flamingo: Splendor on the Grass - “This is the tale of a wonderful bird, named by his creator phoenicopteris ruber plasticus; a new avian species, now known to all as "Pink Plastic Flamingo." The more than one hundred pictures and the text in this volume are the result of Featherstone's request that adoring owners of the pink birds send original photographs that demonstrate their affection for phoenicopteris on its 40th birthday in 1997.”
• Pink Plastic Flamingos for Lawn & Garden (1)... From Flamingo Mania!
• http://www.uptownflamingo.com/index.html – Great source of all things Flamingo some traditional some unique
• http://www.tropicalbreezedecor.com - Flamigos as well as other tropic theme stuff
• About - “Dan & Donna Flamion opened The Pink Flamingo in March of 1997 in Jasper, Indiana. Six months later, they opened another shop in Newburgh, Indiana. In October, Donna appeared on NBC's Today Show, toting a plastic pink flamingo in hopes of being recognized in the crowd. To her surprise, she was interviewed by Al Roker who took the flamingo and started squawking at the audience and camera.”
• Amazon.com: Editorial Reviews: The Original Pink Flamingos: Splendor on the Grass
• http://www.offthedeepend.com/contents.html – and http://www.flamingomania.com/flam_1st.html – Off the deep end with flamingo mania.

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note: all photographs on this site are for personal, private, and non-commercial use only. All other copyrights are retained by the individual photographers. See our policy. Disclaimer: any advice or suggestion presented is provided for informational purposes only and is correct and accurate only to the best of our knowledge at the time it was written. Anyone using such information does so at their own risk. Errors or omissions may exist and additional sources of information or appropriately licensed or qualified personnel should be consulted in deciding a course of action. We assume no liability or obligation by providing this information and warn any users of this information that they do so at their own risk. All links or references to commercial vendors or other sources of information and equipment do not intend or imply or convey any endorsement of that source or the product. They are provided strictly for informational purposes to illustrate the topic at hand. Sierra Nevada Airstreams Enjoyment of the whispering winds, the zephyrs, the airstreams of the Sierra Nevada and Great Basin areas of the United States is a personal, nonprofit, noncommercial web site intended for educational and recreational use only. This site is supported by volunteer effort and contributions.