A “Flamboyance” of Flamingo Stuff

If you’ve hung around my Facebook page at all, then you will start to notice my love affair with flamingos and flamingo kitsch. My sister and I have tried to figure out why the flamingo love and all we can attribute it to is our exposure to the lawn art when we were little. Haha

So, let’s start the flamingo flamboyance (one name for a flock of flamingos) with some basic flamingo facts:

1. A flock of flamingos is called a stand, colony, regiment or a flamboyance. These terms can apply to a flamingo flock of any size.
2. Flamingos don’t do well in very small flocks. They like to hang together and it is fun to watch them dance.
3. Flamingos can fly up to 35 miles an hour and they can live in extreme climates. There’s a cool documentary about them called On Crimson Wing, but just be warned you will come out of watching it hating storks. Like really hating storks and wondering why anyone thought they could deliver babies.

For more flamingo facts, click here.

Did you know that in 1957, Don Featherstone (he passed away last year), a 21 year-old art school grad created the three dimensional pink flamingo? It was the same year as Elvis Presley’s Jailhouse Rock and popular plastic toys like the hula hoop and frisbee. I’m not sure exactly why that’s important, but you can read more about it here.

And in case there wasn’t enough info in that last article, try “A Tale of a Pink Flamingo” at Ultra Swank. Did you see that? ULTRA SWANK. Pink Flamingos and ULTRA SWANK.

Just saying…

And here’s my Pinterest flamingo board. And when you’re shopping for flamingo kitsch, Etsy is a good starting place. Newsweek has even weighed in on the topic of flamingo kitsch. And last, but hardly least, I get a lot of my flamingo kitsch at Zulily. You have to dig in past the clothing line, but there is fun stuff there.

Obviously, my sister and I have had fun putting together a flamboyance of flamingo kitsch.

So, what do you think? Are you for or against flamingos? We can still be friends if you aren’t, but I’ll be sad for you because flamingos are so happy. They make me smile.

I love comments so much that I pick a favorite to receive my monthly AnaBanana gift basket ($25 value).  (And don’t forget that once a quarter I’ll be tossing in something fun from the Perilously Fun Shop!) The recipient is announced in the first blog post of the new month.

Perilously yours,

Pauline

Click on the image for details on how to buy this short story for .99!