The Not-So-Lost Art of Butter Sculpting

Putting together a post about cows at the Iowa State Fair last week was so inspiring that I'm doing one more. This one, however, is about a different breed of bovine...a cow made entirely out of butter.

What State Fair would be complete without butter sculptures? According to a recent Wall Street Journal front-page(!!) article about the art of butter sculpting, "Butter carvings--a staple at state fairs--have been used since the 1890s...Butter sculptures--often of cows, farm boys and milk maids--advertised purity and nostalgia."

How do they make these? According to the article, "Most large butter sculptures are molded over a frame of wire or wood...[or] carved out of a solid block of butter the same way Michelangelo chipped away at a slab of stone." Maybe it really is art!

And in honor of the 50th anniversary of Dr. Suess' iconic children's book Green Eggs and Ham, there were also these cool (literally) butter sculptures (you can see the Cat in the Hat in the photo above...he must have snuck in!):

 "I do so love green eggs and ham...and butter!"

The photo quality isn't the best; sorry about that. I should have turned off my flash, but it was really crowded. These butter sculptures sure were a popular draw! I'm looking forward to seeing what the sculptures are at next summer's fair. More on that...next summer!

(If you'd like to read the WSJ article (it's a fun read!), click here.)