BUTTER COW SPOILER ALERT - Read No Further if you intend to watch the documentary and want to be surprised!
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I was gobsmacked to learn that our state fair butter cow was sculpted by the same woman for FORTY-SIX years! Talk about talent and dedication. Her assistant (also a woman) then took over and has sculpted the cow for nearly twenty years now. WOW. Perhaps the most mind-boggling fact of all: They are actually credited for their work on signs that hang in the exhibition hall above the butter cow. Let's celebrate Iowa doing something right.
Maybe it’s the two cups of coffee, or maybe Women Do Butter Sculpture is a wickedly stirring topic. For centuries our artistic abilities were constricted to only what was practical. Check out your grandma’s collection of doilies and tablecloths: crochet, embroidery, or tatting. Or knitted scarves and hats and socks. If we wrote, (few women EVER had time for that) it probably didn’t get published unless we were in the upperclass. And! We didn’t have our own means so we certainly couldn’t buy art supplies. We had to use what we had and express a ourselves as we would. Butter sculpture fits that niche.
**Also, Tibetan monks have been butter sculpturing since the Ming dynasty. But, for them it was a sacred practice.**
"... the creation of dairy products was so much the realm of women that butter money was often the only money a woman could truly call her own." On a similar note, my college-degreed grandmother was "allowed" to put her four daughters through college with her "egg money." In the 1940s and early 1950s.
So fun to read - thank you. I clicked through to your casserole article too (also excellent) and I have to know, how did your sisters fare after their accident? I have sisters too and can only imagine the horror of that experience.
It reminds me of my Grandmother Zelda, who was responsible for cooking, cleaning, farming and raising children. When I was small, she allowed me to explore her flower garden, which ran along the driveway at the farm in a long, narrow strip. (Brilliant, actually, less weed and each flower was in kind of a square. A square of Gladiolas followed by a square of daisies, peonies, on and on.)
She told me how much joy she got working with her flowers. The Lutheran Church at Lost Island Lake would call Grandma Zelda whenever they needed flowers for a funeral, a wedding, a baptism. It was one of her only creative outlets, making those floral arrangements and delivering them to her tiny church. All for love and beauty, no payment involved.
I grew up in Ohio. I have never heard of "butter sculptures." It is funny how you mention Iowa and Ohio in this column - I know people here in California who confuse the two states (with Idaho sometimes in the mix). I have never been to, and probably will never visit Idaho nor Iowa. That said, I just started reading your book "Belabored." As a father who saw both children being born, and as a one-time nursing student, you describe things very accurately. It should be required reading for all straight cis-gender men. PS: If you are a man reading "Belabored" while eating and you nearly get sick - good! Sorry to be so harsh, but it is about time society realizes what pregnancy and childbirth does to a pregnant person's body!!!
I have a t-shirt that says "Ohio: The Great Potato State" with an outline of Iowa, and cities labeled Boise, Des Moines, Cincinnati, and a few others from all three states. It's very funny to other midwesterners.
I've never seen a butter cow and I have questions. Is the exhibit hall refrigerated? Do they mix stuff with the butter to keep it from melting? Do they carve it with chainsaws? What happens to the butter afterward?
With the caveat that all my information is from 25 years ago as a very inquisitive Iowa 4-H State Fair Qualifier in a few different non-livestock areas and [citation needed]:
1. The exhibits are in something akin to grocery store freezer sections (the candidate photos show this well): behind the glass is a temperature appropriate to keeping butter...sculpted.
2. I vaguely recall seeing clips of people sculpting with hands and clay sculpting tools (I think in a climate controlled-but-not-frozen area), and chainsaws are definitely not used.
3. The butter is frozen and re-used the next year. I KNOW. But I find this to be a fascinating bit of economy in the excess that is a butter sculpture.
Also, huge culture shock when I moved to the mid-Atlantic and discovered what state fairs are outside of Iowa. (Read: the Clay County Fair is more impressive than most state fairs!)
I was awestruck (and mildly horrified) to learn that after the fair is over, the butter from the cow is...uh...retained (somehow), and in fact, the same butter has been re-used for the cow since 2005. I'm sure there are details someone must know about how the butter is preserved, bacteria-free....
I know all about Princess Kay. In the articles I link there are extensive academic histories of her. But this story was about the hidden feminist history, not the history everyone knows. And there are a lot of women butter sculptors, Iowa has their own legacy as well. Thank you for sharing the link!
Butter sculpture question for non-Minnesotans: Do you get to watch them being sculpted? Part of the fun of the Princess Kay extended universe is getting to watch them being carved, while the poor princess sits in the refrigerated chamber wearing a winter coat during the process. Apparently the princesses get to keep their butter heads, as impractical as that sounds.
I don't know how after reading that entire newsletter you could come away with the takeaway that women crafting butter into beautiful shapes for their family were playing with their food. And not every newsletter is not going to be for everyone. This isn't just a newsletter for you, it's for 33k other people too.
I enjoyed this history immensely, Lyz. Well done. On a related note, last night, I watched this excellent PBS documentary on the Iowa state fair:
https://www.iowapbs.org/shows/our-great-state-fair/documentary/9981/our-great-state-fair
BUTTER COW SPOILER ALERT - Read No Further if you intend to watch the documentary and want to be surprised!
.....
.....
.....
I was gobsmacked to learn that our state fair butter cow was sculpted by the same woman for FORTY-SIX years! Talk about talent and dedication. Her assistant (also a woman) then took over and has sculpted the cow for nearly twenty years now. WOW. Perhaps the most mind-boggling fact of all: They are actually credited for their work on signs that hang in the exhibition hall above the butter cow. Let's celebrate Iowa doing something right.
Maybe it’s the two cups of coffee, or maybe Women Do Butter Sculpture is a wickedly stirring topic. For centuries our artistic abilities were constricted to only what was practical. Check out your grandma’s collection of doilies and tablecloths: crochet, embroidery, or tatting. Or knitted scarves and hats and socks. If we wrote, (few women EVER had time for that) it probably didn’t get published unless we were in the upperclass. And! We didn’t have our own means so we certainly couldn’t buy art supplies. We had to use what we had and express a ourselves as we would. Butter sculpture fits that niche.
**Also, Tibetan monks have been butter sculpturing since the Ming dynasty. But, for them it was a sacred practice.**
This is such a great perspective!!
Thanks, Lyz!
"... the creation of dairy products was so much the realm of women that butter money was often the only money a woman could truly call her own." On a similar note, my college-degreed grandmother was "allowed" to put her four daughters through college with her "egg money." In the 1940s and early 1950s.
So fun to read - thank you. I clicked through to your casserole article too (also excellent) and I have to know, how did your sisters fare after their accident? I have sisters too and can only imagine the horror of that experience.
There is a movie called Butter, 2011. It is based on the Iowa state fair butter carver competition.
It was really funny and has a bunch of great actors. The main one is Jennifer Garner. I recommend it.
Great history!
It reminds me of my Grandmother Zelda, who was responsible for cooking, cleaning, farming and raising children. When I was small, she allowed me to explore her flower garden, which ran along the driveway at the farm in a long, narrow strip. (Brilliant, actually, less weed and each flower was in kind of a square. A square of Gladiolas followed by a square of daisies, peonies, on and on.)
She told me how much joy she got working with her flowers. The Lutheran Church at Lost Island Lake would call Grandma Zelda whenever they needed flowers for a funeral, a wedding, a baptism. It was one of her only creative outlets, making those floral arrangements and delivering them to her tiny church. All for love and beauty, no payment involved.
Excellent article, Lyz. MTG looks like she's telling the crowd it's actually a Parkay cow.
I am so here for the scoop on butter cow. Thank you, Lyz!
I’ve been waiting my whole life for this post!!!
This post is making me hungry for pancakes.
I have pre-ordered through my local bookstore.
I grew up in Ohio. I have never heard of "butter sculptures." It is funny how you mention Iowa and Ohio in this column - I know people here in California who confuse the two states (with Idaho sometimes in the mix). I have never been to, and probably will never visit Idaho nor Iowa. That said, I just started reading your book "Belabored." As a father who saw both children being born, and as a one-time nursing student, you describe things very accurately. It should be required reading for all straight cis-gender men. PS: If you are a man reading "Belabored" while eating and you nearly get sick - good! Sorry to be so harsh, but it is about time society realizes what pregnancy and childbirth does to a pregnant person's body!!!
I have a t-shirt that says "Ohio: The Great Potato State" with an outline of Iowa, and cities labeled Boise, Des Moines, Cincinnati, and a few others from all three states. It's very funny to other midwesterners.
My favorite RAYGUN shirt! I have had to explain it to people in Connecticut and they get it they just don't get why it's funny.
I've never seen a butter cow and I have questions. Is the exhibit hall refrigerated? Do they mix stuff with the butter to keep it from melting? Do they carve it with chainsaws? What happens to the butter afterward?
Elizabeth R below is correct, the butter is reused https://www.axios.com/local/des-moines/2023/08/01/iowa-state-fair-butter-cow-reused-sarah-pratt
NO WONDER they exhibit it in a glass case!
With the caveat that all my information is from 25 years ago as a very inquisitive Iowa 4-H State Fair Qualifier in a few different non-livestock areas and [citation needed]:
1. The exhibits are in something akin to grocery store freezer sections (the candidate photos show this well): behind the glass is a temperature appropriate to keeping butter...sculpted.
2. I vaguely recall seeing clips of people sculpting with hands and clay sculpting tools (I think in a climate controlled-but-not-frozen area), and chainsaws are definitely not used.
3. The butter is frozen and re-used the next year. I KNOW. But I find this to be a fascinating bit of economy in the excess that is a butter sculpture.
Also, huge culture shock when I moved to the mid-Atlantic and discovered what state fairs are outside of Iowa. (Read: the Clay County Fair is more impressive than most state fairs!)
I was awestruck (and mildly horrified) to learn that after the fair is over, the butter from the cow is...uh...retained (somehow), and in fact, the same butter has been re-used for the cow since 2005. I'm sure there are details someone must know about how the butter is preserved, bacteria-free....
I am with you. Where does all that butter go eventually? donated?
It's reused! https://www.axios.com/local/des-moines/2023/08/01/iowa-state-fair-butter-cow-reused-sarah-pratt
+1
How could you omit Minnesota's Princess Kay butter sculptures? And the sculptor who carved them for 50 years? https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/09/10/butter-sculpture-dairy-minnesota-fair/
I know all about Princess Kay. In the articles I link there are extensive academic histories of her. But this story was about the hidden feminist history, not the history everyone knows. And there are a lot of women butter sculptors, Iowa has their own legacy as well. Thank you for sharing the link!
Butter sculpture question for non-Minnesotans: Do you get to watch them being sculpted? Part of the fun of the Princess Kay extended universe is getting to watch them being carved, while the poor princess sits in the refrigerated chamber wearing a winter coat during the process. Apparently the princesses get to keep their butter heads, as impractical as that sounds.
I don't know how after reading that entire newsletter you could come away with the takeaway that women crafting butter into beautiful shapes for their family were playing with their food. And not every newsletter is not going to be for everyone. This isn't just a newsletter for you, it's for 33k other people too.