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11-22-2005, 04:14 PM
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#1
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Rivet Master
1977 27' Overlander
1954 25' Cruiser
1990 34.5' Airstream 345
VC Highlands
, Nevada
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 2,151
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Why the pink flamingo...
O.K., I just want know what is the story with Airstreams and pink flamingos. I saw an earlier post on the various kinds of pink flamingos people have. We also have allowed ourselves to be sucked into the flamingo fad.
What I want to know is why??? Why the pink flamingo...
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11-22-2005, 04:35 PM
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#2
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Rivet Master
1975 29' Ambassador
Reno
, Nevada
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 1,351
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11-22-2005, 04:50 PM
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#3
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Rivet Master
2005 19' Safari
1968 24' Tradewind
Rural
, Delaware
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,476
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Sorry, I can't help you. My wife was into flamingos before we got the Airstream. Figure that out. The salesman knew it, and presented her with a flamingo-with-a-pinwheel-in-the-middle-lawn-ornament-looking-thing. It's the ugliest thing you ever saw (looks like a pink vulture sitting on a turbine), but he made a friend for life. Shortly afterward, there were socks, pajamas, slippers, salt and pepper shakers, party lights, etc.
Then, we went neon...
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11-22-2005, 05:04 PM
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#4
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Rivet Master
1977 27' Overlander
1954 25' Cruiser
1990 34.5' Airstream 345
VC Highlands
, Nevada
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 2,151
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Leipper
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Yes but why??
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11-22-2005, 05:45 PM
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#5
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Retired.
Currently Looking...
.
, At Large
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 21,276
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Because they are bright, shiny, tacky?...Portable.???
__________________
Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy, and taste good with ketchup.
Terry
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11-22-2005, 06:19 PM
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#6
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Rivet Monster
1975 31' Sovereign
1980 31' Excella II
Sprung Leak
, North Carolina
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 7,172
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Probably because they Came of age about the same time the Airstream did?
Aaron
__________________
....so many Airstreams....so little time...
WBCCI #XXXX AIR #2495
Why are we in this basket...and where are we going
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11-22-2005, 06:44 PM
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#7
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4 Rivet Member
1983 31' Excella
Waterloo
, Iowa
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 355
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Buttercup
Yes but why??
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To which I reply with another quote by an unnamed person:
Why not?
Elizabeth n Iowa
__________________
The carpeting is gone! The carpeting is gone! Long live the cork floor!
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11-22-2005, 07:06 PM
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#8
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2 Rivet Member
1972 25' Tradewind
Wentworth
, South Dakota
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 29
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They are much more portable that pink elephants
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11-22-2005, 08:15 PM
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#9
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3 Rivet Member
2013 23' FB International
2005 28' International CCD
Petaluma
, California
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 110
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The answer is the same as when people ask why my male dog does what he does.... because he can!
__________________
'05 Int'l CCD 28' >sold then 8 years later> '13 FB Int'l CCD 25'
'05 Ford Excursion Ltd >> '14 Chevy Silverado 1500 Z71 LT Crew
6.0L Diesel 3.73 >> 5.3L V8 Ecotec3 3.42
Titus Moto Lite, Nerve Cruiser
Mike, Angela, the kiddies & 10 yr old puppy, Kenzie, our Golden Retriever and best friend ever
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11-22-2005, 08:27 PM
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#10
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Rivet Master
1956 22' Flying Cloud
Durango
, Colorado
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: 1975 25' Tradewind
Posts: 3,491
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You have to own a pink flamingo to understand
__________________
1956 Flying Cloud
Founder :
Four Corners Unit
Albuquerque National Balloon Fiesta
Rally
Vintage Trailer Academy - Formerly the original
restoration rally
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11-22-2005, 09:40 PM
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#11
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2 Rivet Member
1974 25' Tradewind
Yelm
, Washington
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 84
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Pink Flamingo
Consider, first of all, the type of person who owns an Airstream. Terms like “unique, avante garde, unusual, quirky and adventurous… might apply, right”. We certainly appreciate quality, design, and mechanical engineering among other things.
Of course without industry and mechanics and that era (end of war perhaps?) that gave rise to the mechanized age and most of the war machinery, the refined aircraft etc. there may not have been a longing to recover something of nature.
That was then when rows of pink houses with perfectly square, yet barren lawns seemed too sterile. That was about the same time bathrooms and kitchens turned white and that was due to what we learned about germs, cause and effect.
So war, machinery, industry it all seemed so un-nature like and some people thought having animals in there yard (even if they were plastic and one dimensional at first) was close enough. There were ducks, frogs and deer and herons.
This was the 40’s or mid 40’s and in those days the duck put the pink flamingo to shame in fact the later did not show up till the mid 50’s.
Don’t underestimate the effectiveness of advertising and “pop” fad in this case either. Mix into the formula the advent of plastics and endless color in manufacturing and a longing to escape the bland and mundane (that which represented nature).
About the same time a very unusual, you might even say “avante garde” way of life emerged with the help of Wally B.
This was all was pre-sixty’s stuff, long before people ever heard of things like “The Grateful Dead, love ins, peace and love, free love, back to nature and an escape from anything “man-made”. Now the pendulum swung.
Of course no good cultural revolution worth its salt would be with out its dissenters, its rebellious free radicals. During this return to nature, there were people collecting pink flamingos from garage sales and placing them in their yards cause they were different and symbolic or it was because these people simply wanted to irritate their neighbors. They started to rebel against the rebels. They were now the trail blazers and during the 70’s these people experienced the meaning of theft and jealousy. The birds started disappearing, because after all, they were becoming hard to find, like old airstreams, do you see a pattern ?
What better way to say to someone your ID has arrived or that you have found your security than to place a once hated memory of waste and conspicuous consumption, that gaud awful symbol of all that is wrong with modern life on your modern lawn in front of your modern house. Well of course, then came the 80’s and 90’s. As we know, no matter how revolting a thing may become to one generation, it becomes the social liniment from the past for those longing for their own identity. The Arts and Crafts movement in the 20’s, America’s way to say to European design, we have our own, thank you very much. The pink flamingo is “us”, the collective Airstream “us”, saying we have our identity and it centers around our common interest which is based in a remarkable industrial past that defines us and made us who we are. We own a special, refinement from that era, you could even call them art.
Still today there are those who despise and shun the pink flamingo. It kind of reminds me of when I go to a “regular” RV supply or repair place asking for help or a part and when I say “it’s for an Air stream” the guy helping me then says, with a sweep of his arm “NEXT”.
It isn’t easy being special you know. People just aren’t going to take you serious when your special but you know what, I don’t care cause I own an old Tradewind and I plan on gettin me a pink flamingo and I will displaying it even when boon docking in Hell’s Canyon when I am by my self….
So there.
__________________
"It takes a village to raise a silver twinkie."
-Jim Phillips
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11-22-2005, 10:17 PM
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#12
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Rivet Master
1965 17' Caravel
1968 28' Ambassador
Butte
, Montana
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 1,201
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Quote:
It isn’t easy being special you know. People just aren’t going to take you serious when your special but you know what, I don’t care cause I own an old Tradewind and I plan on gettin me a pink flamingo and I will displaying it even when boon docking in Hell’s Canyon when I am by my self….
So there.
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Here, here ! Well said Jim !
Chris
__________________
AIR # 7276, WBCCI # 7276
Project 2k5
Life is a journey, not a destination
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11-22-2005, 10:41 PM
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#13
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Rivet Master
2006 25' Safari FB SE
St. Cloud
, Minnesota
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 13,280
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More flamingo kitsch than Florida!
A fave from my pre-Stream days: the kitchy-est kitchen in the North, Maggies of Bayfield, Wisconsin. http://www.maggies-bayfield.com/flash/index.htm
Nobody go there, y'heah? It's already too crowded as it is! It is a couple blocks off the main drag and I'd almost bet you'd find parking in the neighborhood, even if pulling the ol' silver sled. Plan on a wait if you arrive between 11:00-2:00 or 5:00-8:00! This is a fun town to hang around, with beautiful sights, great kayaking and sailors galore.
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11-22-2005, 10:53 PM
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#14
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Rivet Master
1977 27' Overlander
1954 25' Cruiser
1990 34.5' Airstream 345
VC Highlands
, Nevada
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 2,151
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wahoonc
Probably because they Came of age about the same time the Airstream did?
Aaron
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This is true.
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11-23-2005, 05:22 AM
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#15
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Site Team
2002 25' Safari
Dewey
, Arizona
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 15,606
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Why pink flamingos?
Simple, the blue ones look dumb!
__________________
Richard
Wally Byam Airstream Club 7513
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11-23-2005, 09:38 AM
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#16
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3 Rivet Member
El Paso
, Texas
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 233
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THANK YOU, Jimmy J, that's the answer that explains it all!
Ernie
'58 Traveler, 18ft.
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11-23-2005, 12:12 PM
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#17
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Rivet Master
1977 27' Overlander
1954 25' Cruiser
1990 34.5' Airstream 345
VC Highlands
, Nevada
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 2,151
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Leipper
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After reading through much of this I have to say that this is a fairly comprehensive list.
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11-23-2005, 10:02 PM
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#18
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3 Rivet Member
2007 25' International CCD
1964 19' Globetrotter
2012 Interstate Coach
vero beach
, Florida
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 184
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why the pink flamingo?
Because concrete yard gnomes & christal balls are soooooo much heavier than plastic pink flamingos ( flaminguie, plural? ).
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11-24-2005, 12:07 AM
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#19
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Rivet Master
1977 27' Overlander
1954 25' Cruiser
1990 34.5' Airstream 345
VC Highlands
, Nevada
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 2,151
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Quote:
Originally Posted by denellen
Because concrete yard gnomes & christal balls are soooooo much heavier than plastic pink flamingos ( flaminguie, plural? ).
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Nice - very nice.
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