Don Featherstone, the creator of the plastic pink flamingo, which went from a 1960s craze to a kitsch icon, has died in Massachusetts aged 79.
Don Featherstone, the creator of the plastic pink flamingo. Photo: AFP
Donald Featherstone was just out of art school in 1957 when a plastics company called on him to make their flat designs three-dimensional.
He made a model of one of the long-legged birds by consulting photos in National Geographic magazine, as the flamingo is not commonly found in the northeasterly region of the U.S.
"He had a wonderful sense of humor, and was happy to have created something that brought pleasure to so many people," his widow Nancy Featherstone, said.
The couple kept 57 plastic flamingos in their backyard, she added, as a reminder of "where their bread was buttered."
A friend and former colleague of Featherstone's, Bruce Zarozny, said the designer had been "incredibly proud" of the bird, one of some 600 lawn ornaments the designer turned out in a long career.
"You'd see him working on things: Santa Claus, snowmen, ducks ...it was his passion," said Mr Zarozny, president of Cado Co, which in the early 2000s acquired Union Products, the original producer of the flamingo.
The pink flamingo became a kitsch icon. Photo: AFP
Featherstone retired in 1999.
He died on Monday at an elder care facility, near Boston. In addition to his wife, he is survived by two children, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
- Reuters
