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| Credit: Stock.XCHNG |
Fact: Every year, the Iowa State Fair features a butter cow. Yes, you read that right.
A life-size statue of a cow…made out of butter.
Because seriously, what other use could one possibly think of for 600 pounds of butter? (Sidenote: Much of the butter used for each year’s statue is recycled and used for up to 10 years. We’re thrifty, we Iowans.)
In addition to the butter cow, there’s always an additional butter statue commemorating someone, something or another. This year’s sculpting celebrates the 75th anniversary of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.”
I know you are all now dying to get to the Iowa State Fair. It truly is a fun event–one of the biggest in the country, drawing over a million people and, I’m not kidding, possibly record-setting for the most variety of smells in one place. Livestock? Check. Funnel cakes? Check. Diesel? Check. Gyros? Check. You name it, you’ll smell it.
Back to butter sculptures. Since presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s weekend news about his VP pick–can you believe he didn’t go with any of my suggestions?–I’ve been in a nominating mood. So, I couldn’t help but make a list of my picks for the subject of the 2013 butter sculpture…
1) Alfred Hitchcock. Because 2013 is the 50th anniversary of his film, The Birds. Ooh, maybe instead of a sculpture of Hitch himself, a giant bird might do. Which could very possibly be freakier than the actual movie.
2) Mary Phelps Jacob. Who? you ask. Well, on November 13, 1913, she patented something women everywhere either love or hate…the modern elastic brassiere.
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| Frankly I think this is a much better use for butter. But what do I know? Credit: Stock.XCHNG |
3) The MySpace logo. The long-irrelevant social media site celebrates its 10th birthday in 2013. Only now I’m realizing I don’t even know what MySpace’s logo looks like.
4) Eppie Lederer and Pauline Phillips…aka Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren…of Ask Ann and Dear Abby fame. Yep, they’re actually twins from Iowa who competed in the advice-giving biz. Because who better to get advice from than feuding sisters?
5) Superman! Next year is the 100th anniversary of his comic book debut. Although, being made of butter might seriously alter his “Man of Steel” abilities.
Do you go to the state fair in your state? Are you as confused as I am about statues made of butter? Who would you pick for next year’s butter sculpture subject?
p.p.s. Today I’m guest-posting over at Lindsay Harrel’s blog about how to be friends with a writer. Yeah, it’s a little more complicated than you might think. I hope you’ll stop by!
Comments 27
I loved state fairs as a kid. Now I just hate lines and the equipment freaks me out. Who inspects that mess? And hand sanitizer. Must. Have. It.
Oh yeah. Hand sanitizer. A staple. 🙂
Superman!
I like the food smells. The older I get the dizzier I get on the rides.
And here it is…I should have had the butter cow on my 600th post on Friday…there’s my 600 after all. 😉
~ Wendy
I get dizzy too! I used to be able to ride anything and everything…over and over…but last time I went to the state fair, I went on a measly two rides and was nauseous the rest of the day. (Probably didn’t help that it was 102 degrees and I’d eaten deep fried oreos–a gloriously awful masterpiece.)
I haven’t been to the state fair in…um, I don’t think since I went on a field trip in like 4th grade. I don’t remember butter statues, but that’s pure awesomeness. When is it held? Right now?
Yep, it’s going on right now. I live within a couple miles of the state fairgrounds, so traffic is c-r-a-z-y. So many animals…and tractors…and people… 🙂
Nope, don’t go to fairs but only because I haven’t had the opportunity. I love them!! A butter statue is a little freaky but well in keeping with Iowa. LOL I’d go with a Hitchcock too!
Ooh, ooh, you need to get the Iowa State Fair. It’s the best of the best…especially if you don’t mind smelling funky at the end of the day and eating sugar and grease all day long. 🙂 Hehehe…
The Minnesota State Fair is also a HUGE draw (it sounds a lot like the Iowa State Fair, and correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the movie “State Fair” set at the Iowa State Fair?). Every year in Minnesota each county nominates Dairy Princesses and then there is the Princess Kay of the Milky Way competition – and the winner get’s a likeness of her head made out of butter to be displayed at the MN State Fair! I’ve only been to our state fair once, but some people faithfully go every year.
I’m trying to remember if I’ve been to the MN fair…?? I know it’s a big deal, too! Yeah, the Iowa State Fair is the one in the musical…”our state fair is a great state fair…don’t miss it, don’t even be late…” Yep, I have all the music memorized. 🙂
Wow… who knew there were that many different uses for butter. I’m trying to figure out how it doesn’t melt in the Iowa summer heat. Well, I’d vote to have a statue of John Wayne or Buffalo Bill since both were born in Iowa. But then again, it somehow just doesn’t seem right seeing them all buttered up.
I can answer that, Reebs! The statues are kept in big, temperature controlled, glass encased displays. You should see the crowds around the displays. I’m usually not patient enough to wait around to get up to the front… 🙂
Oh, and I think one year we did John Wayne already…trying to remember if Buffalo Bill has been done…??
I must confess, I’ve never been to a state fair, but plenty of local ones. The annual Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, which is just about the biggest rodeo/fair in the country, has pretty much every smell, also! About the butter cow, the way I see it, people are going to make statues anyway so why not make it out of something interesting? But the fact that the butter from the butter cow is recycled for 10 years? EEEuuuuwwww… 🙂
I know, I have the same reaction. Ten years?! Is it just sitting around in piles throughout the year??
Been to the state fair enough to know that it is a great place to get overheated, loose someone, and eat a heart attack on a stick. But fun anyway. I would love to see a butter sculpture of Snoopy.
Heart attack on a stick. That’s a perfect way to put it. Except, wait!! A couple years ago the Iowa State Fair introduced salad on a stick. They quarter heads of iceberg lettuce and sell them for something like $7. I wish I was joking!
I REALLY want to see that butter statue, but I’m kind of far away from Iowa. I haven’t been to the state fair in Colorado in a long time, but hubby and I were talking about going this year or next.
Haha, Cindy, the butter statue might be worth the drive to Iowa. If it’s not, the funnel cakes and chocolate-covered bacon and deep fat fried oreos are. 🙂
Wow, I may travel to Iowa just for this cow. 🙂 How do they keep it solid? Put it on ice?
The statue is kept in a temperature-controlled glass display, so that’s how it stays solid. Yep, we take care of our butter statues around here. Hehe… 🙂
Once on iCarly, Spencer made a butter sculpture for a bread convention in their apartment. Then Carly turned up the heat and it melted. See? Butter sculptures can be superstars, too!
http://icarly.wikia.com/wiki/INevel?file=Tumblr_l7dv1oclEJ1qdnw89o1_500.png
LOVED your guest post on Lindsay’s page today. SOOO right on.
Blessings,
Becky
I’ve never watched iCarly, but now maybe I should. 🙂 Thanks for checking out the guest post at LIndsay’s, too. I had fun writing that. 🙂
I don’t even know if we have a state fair…I suppose we do??? But anything with butter, well, it would have to be good, right? So maybe I’ll adopt Iowa as my state for the day and go:)
I seriously thought all states had state fairs, but that may be a mistaken assumption. Like how when I was a kid I thought if a horse laid down it meant it’d died. Yeah, I was confused…and veeery sad anytime I saw a horse laying down!!
I don’t know if we have a state fair either. The Mid-South Fair is in Memphis and it’s been almost, ooops, a few years since I went to that one. We do have a local one in Corinth…takes about 5 minutes to go through it.
Haha, five-minute fairs can be fun, too, I’m sure. 🙂
Our state fair is quite a ways away, but the Shelby County Fair is just a few miles away from the church where Jess and I work. Which is odd, because Shelby County is in TN (think Memphis) and we’re in DeSoto County, MS! The move had to do with a high crime rate in Memphis, declining attendance, yadda, yadda, yadda. I haven’t been in years, mostly because it is DANG EXPENSIVE to get in and even moreso to ride the rides! But I did love some fair food corn dogs back in the day!