Flamingos get a new lease on life

Whew! Last October, I wrote about how the venerable plastic lawn flamingo was no longer going to be manufactured in the USA (The End of an Era). Well, the little pink guys just got a reprieve. From Florida's TBO Online:

Pink Flamingo To Spread Its Wings Again
The original pink flamingo lawn ornament, the symbol of kitsch whose obituary nearly was written after its central Massachusetts manufacturer went out of business, is rising phoenixlike from the ashes and taking wing to upstate New York.

A manufacturer that bought the copyright and plastic molds for the original version plans to resume production in Westmoreland, N.Y.

HMC International LLC will pick up where Union Products Inc. left off last year when it shuttered its Leominster, Mass., plastics factory after 50 years of flamingo making.

J.C. Waszkiewicz, head of family-owned HMC, said Thursday he expects retailers who buy his firm's flamingos wholesale will appreciate subtle design differences between knockoff versions and the original by Don Featherstone, who studied art before Union Products hired him in 1956 to expand its lawn ornament lineup.

"Once I began discussions about buying Union Products, I started examining the different products on the market, and I realized Mr. Featherstone created a great-looking flamingo," said Waszkiewicz, whose company closed on its purchase of Union Products in April for an undisclosed price. "There are other people who have tried to capitalize on his design, but none that I've seen hold a candle to the quality and detail he created."

Waszkiewicz's firm expects to resume Featherstone flamingo production by Labor Day.

Very cool!