Who invented the plastic pink flamingo lawn ornament?

Donald "Don" Featherstone (January 25, 1936 – June 22, 2015) was an American artist most widely known for his 1957 creation of the plastic pink flamingo while working for Union Products. Featherstone resided in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, where he kept 57 plastic flamingos on his front lawn.

Featherstone based his creation on photographs of flamingos from National Geographic, as he was not able to obtain real flamingos to use as models. As time went on, the plastic flamingo became popular. They appeared across the country and even as parts of various art exhibits.

One memorable usage of the plastic pink flamingos occurred on September 4, 1979 when the UW-Madison's legendary Pail & Shovel student government party purchased and planted 1,008 of them on Bascom Hill, in front of the university dean's office.

In 1987, Donald Featherstone inscribed his signature in the original plastic mold. This was apparently to help distinguish between original and "knock-off" Pink Plastic Flamingos. Featherstone's signature stayed on the bird until 2001 when it was removed. The signature was quickly replaced due to a small boycott of the unsigned birds.