My guest post has now appeared on Food Culture Index. Its a much shortened version of this series on butter art: Part 1, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.
Butter sculpture made its premiere in the United States in 1911 at the Iowa State Fair with the first Buttercow [ed note: I stated 1908 incorrectly in the Food Culture Index post]. The sculpture was sponsored by the Beatrice Creamery, who wished to display the success of the local dairy industry and promote local products. The buttercow as advertisment worked, with a six percent increase in sales the next year, but it also came to occupy an iconic position for locals. In essence, the Buttercow came to symbolize enthusiasts see as Midwestern values. When 2010 Minnesota Dairy Princess (Princess Kay of the Milky Way) Katie Miron speaks of the Dairy industry she uses words like “hardwork,” “dedication,” “wholesome” and “nutritious.” She connects these concepts to longstanding “American Values” and suggests that dairy farming, in many ways, represents the long held ideal of hard work leading to success. Butter art for her is a way to both promote these values within the community, and communicate the values to outsiders.
photo courtesy of Gerard Dougher
And, like all icons, the Buttercow adapts to symbolize prevailing social issues and political perspectives. What was once a symbol of progress, now has come to be a nostalgic representation of a disappearing way of life. As family farms disappear and Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations replace them, the Buttercow stands as a testament to the idealization of the past and the values associated with it.
Ray, a fair employee in Illinois, points out why the new sculptor's cow, compared to Duffy's, looks like a "mule with tits."
With intimate knowledge of dairy farming and cows declining, those with the expertise to sculpt accurate likenesses in butter are disappearing as well. Duffy sculpted a buttercow for the Illinois State Fair as well, from 1969-2001. In 2003, many people felt the new sculptor’s work did not live up to the standard Duffy had set. I overheard numerous dairy farmers and others experienced in bovine anatomy talk of the sculpture;s shortcomings. Duffy, who had earned a degree in Animal Science from Iowa State University, had an intimate knowledge of bovine anatomy. She sculpted specific breeds, and even the veins on her sculpted udders were anatomically correct. However, when the new sculptor’s cow was unveiled, a long time Dairy Association employee scoffed: “This one just looks like a mule with tits!” As lifeways change, old customs become endowed with new meaning. Butter sculptures may act as a reflector of the agricultural community. As knowledge of small family farms disappears in the wake of the rise of factory farms, these artworks lose part of their realism. However, as contexts change, art and tradition take on new implications and their relevance becomes increasingly valuable as symbols for examining the past and considering the future.
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