Another American Bird Species Faces Extinction
It’s been a popular visitor and resident in many American front yards for decades, but there is now the very real chance that the pink flamingo may be going the way of the dodo. AP business writer Mark Jewell reports that the Massachusetts company which has manufactured the iconic plastic lawn ornaments since the 1950s may be going out of business:
[T]he original version of the plastic flamingo may be singing its swan song after inspiring countless pranks — and being alternately celebrated as a tribute to one of nature’s most graceful creatures and derided as the epitome of American pop culture kitsch.
Union Products Inc. stopped producing flamingos and other lawn ornaments at its Leominster factory in June, and is going out of business Nov. 1 — a victim of rising expenses for plastic resin and electricity, as well financing problems.
The small privately held firm has been in talks with a pair of rival lawn ornament makers interested in buying the molds and resuming production of the flamingos, designed in 1957 by local son Don Featherstone.
Here’s to hoping that some creative financing and nostalgic marketing can bring the plastic flamingo back from the brink. If we work together as private stewards of lawn ornament biodiversity, I know we can succeed.
Thanks to CEI alumna Liz for passing along.