tradesleft.blogg.se - Don featherstone

For 35 years, Don and his wife Nancy dressed alike for all their public appearances.

Don worked for 43 years with Union Products, creating his pink flamingo in his first year of work with the company in 1957.

Don won the IG Nobel Art Prize for his flamingo in 1996.

After 1987, all of Featherstone's original molds were given his signature to set them apart from knockoffs.

His legacy goes on to this day in the form of his beloved pink flamingos, which have been made by Cado Products after Union's closing in 2006.ĭon with one of his original flamingos in hand Trivia He also began his tenure as president of Union products until his retirement in 2000, after 43 years of work at the company and over 750 creations.ĭon passed away on Jfrom Lewy Body Dementia at the age of 79. In 1996, Featherstone received the IG Nobel art prize for his flamingo. He soon began adding his signature to every one of his molds, for both lawn, garden and holiday decorations. To combat this, his signature was molded into each bird beneath the wing to set it apart from fakes. In 1987, Don realized the amount of companies that were making knockoffs of his fan favorite flamingo. He later released the bird in Coggshall park.

These official flamingos were sold in pairs, one standing upright and the other with its head low to the ground, 'feeding'. In 1957, he was asked to sculpt a duck, and to make his sculpt as perfect as possible, he purchased a real one, and named it 'Charlie'. Genuine pink flamingos made by Union Products from 1987 (the 30th anniversary of the plastic flamingo) until 2001 can be identified by the signature of Don Featherstone on the rear underside. During his career, he created over 750 different decorations for Union, his first being a girl with a watering can, but his most popular by far was his pink lawn flamingo, which he created based on a national geographic photo as he did not have a real bird for reference. His position was a product designer, to create blow mold yard decorations for the company. Featherstone is a director in Sterne Kesslers Electronics Practice Group and chairs the firms Foreign Filing Committee. After graduating from the art school of the Worcester Art Museum, Don was offered a job at Union Products in 1957. These Don Featherstone pink flamingos: Classic classic classic Americana.Donald 'Don' Featherstone (JanuJune 22, 2015) was anĪmerican artist and sculptor who worked for famous blow mold company union products, best known for his massively popular creation, the Lawn Flamingo.ĭon was born on Januin Worcester, Massachusetts. Many wargamers, particularly at the early stages of their interest in the hobby, are unable to find live opponents to fight on their table-top battlefields. There’s also a book written by Don Featherstone himself - It’s called Pink Flamingos Splendor in the Grass. There was a ton of news media attention on this story at the time. Unfortunately, Union Products closed in 2006 – but fortunately, a year later a company named HHC International purchased the famous flamingo molds. Last I read, it produces from them today in Westmoreland, New York. The New York Times put his story on the front page.

The tributes poured in. His hometown newspaper, the Fitchburg (Mass.) Sentinel & Enterprise wrote a lovely, lovely story. Also, Wikipediasays that he and his wife have dressed alike for their entire marriage.ĭon Featherstone died in June 2015. He was 79. with 57 of his flamingos on his front lawn. He retired in 2000, and continued to reside in Fitchburg, Mass. You can buy them for sale on Amazon - look for the ones by Union Products … they come in a pair… Don Featherstone’s name is on the box.įeatherstone actually rose to lead the company. Today, all the authentic reproductions being made will still have Featherstone’s signature molded into them. In 1987, Featherstone inscribed his name on the original molds, in order to differentiate them from knockoffs. (affiliate link, yes, you click & buy, I make some moola) Get them on Amazon of course> Featherstone flamingos here. Yes: Featherstone flamingos are still available today! They seem to have been in continuous production since 1958, with just one yearlong gap in 2006-2007. All Featherstone flamingos made today have his names inscribed into the mold The taller one is 30″ tall when staked into the ground. They were based on National Geographic images, and they went on the market in 1958. He sculpted the iconic pink flamingos in 1957. According to my online research, Featherstone is an artist who sculpted 750 products for Union Products, Inc., in Leominster, Mass., starting in 1956.

NO DISCUSSION OF MIDCENTURY LANDSCAPING IS COMPLETE without including the famous pink flamingo lawn ornaments designed by Don Featherstone. Retro Renovation stopped publishing in 2021 these stories remain for historical information, as potential continued resources, and for archival purposes.