History of Yard Cards and the Lawn Greeting Industry
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The Lawn Greeting industry emerged on the scene well over 20 years ago. Most people are familiar with the traditional Stork, used to announce the homecoming of a new baby. Then came the PINK FLAMINGO…
The popularity of the pink flamingo in front lawns is nothing new. From marble statues created centuries ago to the popular garden gnome, lawn decorations have been around for an eternity. Some compare a lawn without any ornaments to be like a coffee table that is totally empty
The history of the pink flamingo can be traced back to 1946 when a company called Union Products started manufacturing “Plastics for the Lawn”. Their collection included dogs, ducks, frogs, and even a flamingo. But their products had one problem: They were only two-dimensional. In 1956, the company decided to hire a young designer named Don Featherstone. Although Don was a serious sculptor and classical art student, his first project was to redesign their popular duck into the third dimension. Don used a live duck as his model and after five months of work, the duck was retired to a local park. His next project would prove to be his most famous. He couldn't get his hands on real flamingos, so he used photographs from a National Geographic in its place. He sculpted the original out of clay, which was then used to make a plaster cast. The plaster cast, in turn, was used to form the molds for the plastic. While the exact date was never recorded, the first pink flamingo was born some time during 1957. The late 1950’s just happened to be perfect timing for the flamingo. America was moving to the suburbs. Industry was convincing America that a natural lawn was one that was mowed and treated with chemicals. And, every lawn needed a lawn ornament. The 1960’s were not as friendly to the pink flamingo. There was a rebellion against everything man made. It was a time to go back to nature. The plastic flamingo quickly became the prototype of bad taste and anti-nature. By 1970, even Sears had removed the pink-feathered bird from its catalog. It looked like our fake-feathered friend’s days were numbered. But time was on this bird's side. Some people just love to do things that annoy people. You know: If you are not supposed to do something, you do it just to annoy others. If pink flamingos were the ultimate in bad taste, then people were sure to place them on their lawn to bug their neighbors. And they did so in great numbers. It was then that the Lawn Greetings industry was born…. The pink flamingo moved from lawn junk to lawn art.
Today the Lawn Greetings industry is world-wide with an official Lawn Greetings Industry Association with over 1000 members and growing!
