Forbidden Flamingo Love

     The day before I left for my vacation, I went to a local barn sale. It was mostly crafters, but there were a few booths that had the kind of vintage goods I hunt. One of those was JWL Vintage . It was one of my favorites and is ran by an "old" friend of mine who also loves old things.

JWL Vintage Booth at The Strawberry Patch Spring Market





 In another booth, I found these flamingos, and since my brain was already set for all things Florida, they needed to be mine.

 

 

     I just love the personality of Flamingos but what I don't love is everyone knowing I love them. I live in Tennessee. You can see a lot of birds here, wild turkeys, gorgeous black crows, our annoying "state" mockingbird, but not one flamingo. That is, unless you find yourself in the secluded nook of my backyard, jokingly named Margaritaville. 

 

     Visitors to the front of my house see trees and boxwood hedges marching in straight lines, along with formal urns and statuary, but in the back...well, let's just say it's the equivalent of the 80's mullet. Business in the front...party in the back! My tacky little secret.

 

     Sadly, I can't put these birds out. They're old and made of a heavy plaster that would never survive, but I do have a new set of plastic ones hidden among the hostas. These old guys are going to live out their golden years comfortably inside my house.

 

     They make me wonder though which came first, these or the infamous plastic ones designed by Don Featherstone and sold by Union Plastics starting in 1957. My suspicion is that these are slightly older but Mr. Featherstone credits a photo in National Geographic as the inspiration for his design. I think I have found a clue in this old postcard.

 

 

On the back, the owner of the apartment complex in the picture clearly marked out the old phone number with a 2 digit prefix and wrote in the new number with 3 digits. That change occurred in 1958.  Surely the photo was taken earlier, but maybe not. So I guess, this postcard isn't all that great of a clue after all... Either way these flamingos are fabulous!

 

 

 

And speaking of fabulous flamingos, meet Mingo #40 who lives at Sarasota Jungle Gardens. Mr. Curiosity's new "friend". 

 

 

Uh-oh!!