Lawn ornament
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lawn ornaments are decorative objects placed in the grassy area of a property.
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[edit] Common lawn ornaments
Bird bath - A structure designed to hold water for birds and bathe in or drink, generally supported upon a pedestal.
Garden gnome - A small, generally colorful gnome statuette.
Groomsman - An often diminutive statuette of a black horse attendant dressed in slave clothing, also called a "Jocko". Groomsmen were often used as hitching posts. The origin of the groomsman is disputed, but it is accepted that they originated in the U.S. South. One legend has it that the first Groomsman was created at the commission of George Washington.
Human form - A depiction of a human being. Human form lawn ornaments can be two dimensional, generally vertically supported by being thrust in the ground, or three dimensional. Examples of human form lawn ornaments include the lawn jockey and groomsman. Examples of two dimensional human form lawn ornaments include renditions of Amish and Pennsylvania Dutch people. A variation of the Pennsylvania Dutch human form is a depiction of an older female bending over as in gardening, thus revealing her undergarments.
Jocko - See Groomsman.
Lawn jockey - Also commonly known as a "Yardell". A normally diminutive statuette in the form of a black horse jockey. No longer as common since the civil rights movement. The origin of the lawn jockey is disputed, but it is generally accepted that it evolved from the earlier Groomsman.
Mirror ball - A light-reflective sphere, as large as 16" in diameter and generally displayed on top of a support structure. Also called Gazing balls.
Animal forms - Popular animal statues such as frogs, turtles, rabbits, or ducks cast in plastic or cement.
Plastic flamingo - A generally lifesize replica of a pink flamingo. According to some, the origin of the plastic flamingo was in 1946 with the company Union Products in its "Plastics for the Lawn" product line. Their collection included dog, ducks, frogs, and a flamingo.
Whirligig - An often animalistic sculpture generally supported vertically by being pushed in the ground characterized by at least one rotating member often desiged to appear as a bodypart of the sculpture.
Spinners - Usually shaped like flowers with petals that spin in the wind. Variations include birds or insects with spinning wings.
Jigglers - Plastic or metal flowers, birds and insects fitted on spring loaded stakes so that they jiggle when the wind blows on them.
[edit] Further reading
- Goings, Kenneth W., Mammy and Uncle Mose: Black Collectibles and American Stereotyping (Indiana University Press) (1st printing, 1994).
- Varkonyi, Charlyne, A Bird in the hand: The Story of the Pink Flamingo, Sun-Sentinel (date unknown) (FL).
