Union Products

Union Products (1946-2006, reestablished in 2012) was an american company that

   created blow mold products for the lawn. Union is one of the most popular blow mold companies of all time, and over 1000 products have been released by them until their close in 2006. In 2012, Cado

## Union Products

### Years in Business

1946-2006 (original company);2012-present (under Cado)

### Still in Business?

Yes, as a subsidiary

Products bought the assets of Union and reopened the company as a division of their main company, creating Union's famous blow molds once more proudly under their name.

## History

Union was founded in 1946 in Leominster, Massachusetts as a company specializing in blow mold sculptures. This was around the time blow molds were starting to become popular in the USA after the Second World War. Union created lawn decorations and other blow mold items, such as watering cans.

Union's popularity would soon shoot sky high after they recruited

    a Worcester Art school graduate named Don Featherstone. The same year he was hired, Union asked him to create a flamingo lawn ornament for them. Don, who preferred to base his figures off their real life versions, did not have an actual flamingo to use and instead based his creation off a National Geographic photo. The plastic Lawn Flamingo was released later and advertised in a 1957 Sears ad. The flamingo became instantly popular, and it suddenly became a necessity to have a pair of Union pink flamingos roosting on your lawn. Union became a household name.

Union saw a slow downfall at the end of the 60s, after the flamingo craze began to die down. They had to slow production of their bestseller to an all time low, but continued to make seasonal decorations for such holidays as Christmas, Easter and Halloween.

In 1996, Don Featherstone, after receiving the IG Nobel art prize for his flamingos, began his tenure as president of Union Products. He retired after 43 years of work at the company in 2000. He was succeeded by Dennis L. Plante as president.

By the early 2000s, Union's sales had hit an all-time low. Blow molds had begun to fall out of style altogether, most notably in 2002 after the invent of Airblown Inflatables. It also became increasingly expensive to produce the molds. Production of the iconic flamingos stopped in June of that year. Union declared their closure in early 2006 and began liquidation. They officially shut their doors in November.

It was a dark time for Blow Molds, especially the pink flamingo.

But in 2012, a new hope rose from the ashes of Union Products of Leominster; Cado Products, a custom blow molding company, revealed that they had bought almost all the molds and assets from Union products, and began to reproduce them, mainly the flamingos, once more. Cado Products reopened Union as a division of their company. Now, Union's beloved blow mold creations are once again available on store shelves, with its biggest sales outlet being Ace Hardware.

## Website Link

unionproducts.homestead.com(note: the site is not very large nor informational) (site is now currently unavailable)

cadocompany.com (the website of Union's now parent company, Cado Products)