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Old 11-26-2014, 08:43 PM   #1
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What's with the Pink Flamingos?

Just curious.

I'm waiting for my new Airstream to arrive ready to start this journey and I noticed the Pink Flamingo obsession.

What's up with that?

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Old 11-26-2014, 08:49 PM   #2
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Had 4 Airstreams and 0 flamingos. When you figure it out, let me know
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Old 11-26-2014, 08:55 PM   #3
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My impression is that both Airstreams and pink flamingos evoke the feelings of 1950s southern California, where Airstreams were both built and embraced by the culture. It would probably be equally appropriate to lean a 50's style surfboard against the end of the awning and park a woody wagon out front.

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Old 11-26-2014, 09:01 PM   #4
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'Flamingos' here in the Austin area seem to specify their mantra "Keep Austin Weird"... they even sell and install this wording on bumper stickers!!!

"To each, their own"... or "see how eclectic I am..." or 'free spirited'...

My wife had no interest in them initially. Gradually, she is getting into it... just a little. Being she is a wind chime freak, I found a small wind chime, with pink flamingo that has a 2 inch suction cup to hold to a window... then we have one more 'pink flamingo on a stick' which she has me fly off of the side ZipDee awning arm... but, that's all we have.. For her, it means... "we are not working and are enjoying life".
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Old 11-26-2014, 09:03 PM   #5
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It's a Glamping thing.
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Old 11-26-2014, 09:15 PM   #6
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I have been around Airstreaming now for ten years. I have no idea how it got started, but I have always noticed that many Airstreamers have an affinity for Pink Flamingos. I have always liked the Pink Flamingos that were part of my boyhood. I grew up in Miami in the 1950's. Pink Flamingos were quite prolific when I was growing up. They were particularly popular in the small trailer parks that were frequented by the snow birds of the day. The most memorable trailers in these parks were Airstreams.

One of our first purchases when we got Old Lucy (our first Airstream) was to get some plastic Pink Flamingos. We also found our trademark Pink Flamingo, Francine. Francine is a neon Pink Flamingo that we regularly display in our kitchen window.

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Old 11-27-2014, 04:00 AM   #7
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Here it is in a nutshell. History, Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places | Smithsonian
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Old 11-27-2014, 08:09 AM   #8
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I have found them rather hard to cook once you get them in your game bag
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Old 11-27-2014, 08:13 AM   #9
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I beg to differ with the Smithsonian explanation. Featherstone may have done the first plastic mold type but that is not where the reason/emotions of the Flamingo originated. In the 1940's I well remember the Northerners going to Florida for the Winters. When they returned they brought home souvenirs of their vacations. The Florida Kitch at the time was sea shell ash trays, lamps and shelf displays. Palm trees and Flamingos were also the Florida symbols. Those symbols indicated a lifestyle ....warm, happy and free...people wanted and were happy to associate with. Hence the association with the Airstream....travel trailer crowd. Hawaii had its Hula girl symbols....we had our Flamingos....and still do. Happy and free.
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Old 11-27-2014, 08:25 AM   #10
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I fell in love with flamingos when I was a kid and visited my grandparents in Florida.
When we got our first Airstream it just seemed like the perfect time to let myself get some. The trouble(?) is that now people keep finding flamingo stuff and giving it to me.
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Old 11-27-2014, 08:40 AM   #11
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PF's are not an Airstream thing. I see many campers using them. People that don't camp use them as yard art. There's even a rental near where I live where you can rent a flock for yourself for a special occasion or have them land on someone's lawn during the night and disappear by next afternoon.

We have a camping neighbor right now that has about a dozen plastic ducks. She even brings them to the pool!

I don't get it. I've got enough stuff without hauling around plastic birds.
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Old 11-27-2014, 09:26 AM   #12
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One "followed" me home, from a parrot head party weekend "Fins to the West" @ The Avi, last year. She was sitting on the table as a centerpiece, and when she found out I lived in an AS, , ,
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Old 11-27-2014, 09:39 AM   #13
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Affirming Melody's differ,

This was already screwed onto the back door casing of my 125 year-old “Northerner” house when I bought it 25 years ago.


McCrory's Five and Dime, Miami circa ???
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Old 11-27-2014, 10:20 AM   #14
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Originally Posted by A W Warn View Post
PF's are not an Airstream thing. I see many campers using them. People that don't camp use them as yard art. There's even a rental near where I live where you can rent a flock for yourself for a special occasion or have them land on someone's lawn during the night and disappear by next afternoon.

We have a camping neighbor right now that has about a dozen plastic ducks. She even brings them to the pool!

I don't get it. I've got enough stuff without hauling around plastic birds.
I think it is not so much that pink flamingos are an Airstream thing as it is that Pink flamingos and Airstreams are both symbols of 1950's nostalgia.
I always associated them with southern California, Hollywood and surfing. however it is obvious that those who grew up further east associate them with Florida. I was 22 before I ever set foot in Florida, and that was Pensacola. I don't know if that even counts.

Here is a background link, that i don't believe has been posted yet in this thread.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_...rstone_(artist)

Ken
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Old 11-27-2014, 11:09 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Melody Ranch View Post
I beg to differ with the Smithsonian explanation. Featherstone may have done the first plastic mold type but that is not where the reason/emotions of the Flamingo originated. In the 1940's I well remember the Northerners going to Florida for the Winters. When they returned they brought home souvenirs of their vacations. The Florida Kitch at the time was sea shell ash trays, lamps and shelf displays. Palm trees and Flamingos were also the Florida symbols. Those symbols indicated a lifestyle ....warm, happy and free...people wanted and were happy to associate with. Hence the association with the Airstream....travel trailer crowd. Hawaii had its Hula girl symbols....we had our Flamingos....and still do. Happy and free.
Bingo. The lifestyle was free from worries, life’s a beach, etc., etc... and flamingos were a part of that carefree resort-like lifestyle. As the shape of an Airstream hasn’t changed much thru the years, the flamingos show not so much of a throwback but a continuation of that style.

Then again, I like jalapeño lights with my flamingos.
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Old 11-27-2014, 11:30 AM   #16
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I have found them rather hard to cook once you get them in your game bag
Well, they are kind of tough, and taste kind of like a cross between a Great Horned Owl and a Blue Herron.
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Old 11-27-2014, 12:01 PM   #17
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where did you find the neon pink flamingo... would make a perfect xmas present for my spouse who no longer wants clutter in the house, but loves the occasional pink flamingo in the Airstream. I almost typed trailer and then remembered the often repeated refrain, it ain't a trailer, it is an Airstream!
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Old 11-27-2014, 01:57 PM   #18
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The neon Pink Flamingo that we have was found at Walgreen's seven or eight years ago. We bought three of them. The last one is the current Francine. I'm surprised they have lasted this long. I go into Walgreen's regularly and have never seen them again.

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Old 11-27-2014, 02:24 PM   #19
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When my favorite California cousin had her 50th birthday, a friend populated her back yard with 50 flamingos! It's a big wooded back yard, and the flamingos were back there, in varying locations and states of disrepair, for years and years. Recently, her daughter got married in the back yard, and I noticed a small flock of 'em, back in the shrubbery, keeping an eye on the happy event.

And no, we have no flamingos in our 27FB...yet...
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Old 11-27-2014, 02:48 PM   #20
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In Florida, the display of plastic or neon flamingos is considered a sign of disrespect to this noble bird which is so highly regarded in the Sunshine State.

A flamingo preservation bill is currently underway in the Florida state legislature which will criminalize the misuse of images of the cherished fowl, and to institute a structure of fines as well as incarceration for their flagrant abuse.
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