Colorful America: The Bold and The Wild

The 1950's was an explosion of change and color for Americans. The new generation, having grown up during the depression and World War II, was ready for something new and ready to forget all the old-fashioned ideas. One of the key things in that decade was color: bright colors! This ultimately led to America's obsession with the pink flamingo.

In Jennifer Price's essay, "The Plastic Pink Flamingo: A Natural History," she uses the background of the era to explain the reason why the United States' attention has turned toward the pink flamingo. Starting a few decades earlier, the flamingo first became more than just an animal, when a grand hotel was named "The Flamingo." After that, the flamingo became connected with vacation and wealth because Americans brought flamingo souvenirs home with them from Florida. So from the start, flamingos were thought of and connected with riches and status, which first turned America's attention to the flamingo, so that they too could be considered wealthy.

All of the history that she uses in her analysis of the pink flamingo sets her reader up to understand her point of view that she hints at amidst her explanations. She sprinkles flashy vocabulary throughout her essay to suggest that she believes Americans to be bold, flashy, and wild. In the fifties, flashy colors were new and hip, such as "tangerine, broiling magenta, livid pink, incarnadine, fuchsia demure, Congo ruby, and methyl green." As Price talks about this new color craze, it emphasizes her idea of Americans as bold and wild because the people are reflected in these new colors. Pink was also very popular, and new pinks were created that also reflected the new culture like "sassy pink and passion pink." This is how the author connects these flashy Americans and their color explosion to the pink flamingo. When the flamingos were made, they weren't just a plastic replica of the real animal; they were hot pink, an unnatural pink. So people loved them because they continued this new color theme.

Not only were Americans "bold and flashy", but they were bright and stood out. The pink flamingo craze started when florescent, hot pink flamingos started popping up in front lawns. They were already bright with color, but they stood out, again reflecting Americans. This immediately became extremely popular, as people were eager for change and celebration, as they were