Rivaled only by the garden gnome and tiki torch, pink flamingos are the ubiquitous lawn ornament of choice for homeowners seeking a vintage, kitschy, ironically tacky splash of summer Americana in the yard.
Donald Featherstone, creator of those wire-legged plastic birds, died at age 79 on Monday, his wife told the Associated Press. As his legacy, he left a product that fuses industry and art in American culture.
It should come as no surprise that the neon knickknacks have been enduring and influential. Featherstone was trained both as a shrewd businessman and classical artist.
"The guy was brilliant and way ahead of his time," said Dean Mazzarella, mayor of Featherstone's town of Leominster, Mass. "He was a genius when it came to marketing and product placement. "
Featherstone studied art at Massachusetts' Worcester Art Museum and went on to invent hundreds of products for plastics company Union Products — rising to the position of president before his retirement in 1999. One of those products was the pink flamingo, inspired in 1957 by a photo in National Geographic, according to the AP.
The flamingo certainly put Leominster, Mass., on the map as the "plastics capital of the world." Mazzarella saw Featherstone and his wife, Nancy, frequently, he said, and they were always wearing matching clothes.
"I've had people call me, and it's someone really important on the line, like a U.S. senator," Mazzarella said. "Then they always say, 'Hey I understand you can get me some flamingos.' "
In fact, Mazzarella himself owns a gift shop downtown where he sells flamingos by the boxload. He said the community has a lot of pride in the beloved birds, and people put flocks in each other's yards for birthdays and anniversaries.
Featherstone's brainchild has endured controversy through the years. Once considered tacky, the flamingo was later embraced, first as a symbol of renegade misfits and deviants, as in the raunchy 1972 movie Pink Flamingos. Later, the fabulous fowl found a home as pop art, inspiring Featherstone's 1999 book, The Original Pink Flamingos: Splendor on the Grass.
By the time Union Products was acquired in 2006, they were so popular that there was a run on the remainder of the plastic birds. Eventually, a company bought the molds and was able to revive the famous summer staple.
Today, Featherstone's playful design inspires high-end goods such as coveted Lilly Pulitzer textiles and a print from West Elm. The tropical tchotchkes also carry on a tradition of generosity at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, according to the school website. The school matches alumni donations by placing the city's official bird — yep, the pink flamingo — on the campus green.
Featherstone died at an elder care facility in Fitchburg, Mass., after a long battle with Lewy body dementia, said his wife, Nancy. A wake is scheduled for Friday, and a funeral Mass is scheduled for Saturday at St. Joseph Church in Fitchburg.
Mazzarella said the cheeriness of the pink flamingo was an extension of Featherstone himself.
"He was a real gentleman, a really nice man," Mazzarella said. "He gave everyone as much attention as they could want. If he was excited, you were, too."
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