If you didn’t know that the butter cows featured at the start of the Iowa and Illinois State Fairs weren’t made entirely of butter, you are not alone – in fact, removed from it.
Many fans initially thought the sculptures were made of 100% butter looking at a behind the scenes photo sent to X (formerly Twitter) by @217problems. The photo, which has 15 million views, shows (*5*)Butter cow at the Illinois State Fair shaved to disclose the frame beneath the butter. (The 2023 Illinois and Iowa State Fairs ended on August 20.)
“I feel cheated. It should be a solid block of butter. If we can’t believe in butter cows, what can we believe in? – one person he tweeted.
“???? Wait????? It’s not exactly butter?????” another person he asked.
“OK, so who is joining the false advertising class action lawsuit because…?” he wrote other.
“Waaah!!! I was there last week, I want my money back.” he tweeted another person.
“Seeing a butter cow like that…puts a knot in my stomach.” he was joking one other user X.
The Butter Cow, commissioned by the Midwest Dairy Association, dates back to the Twenties and is a convention that many guests – many of whom apparently didn’t understand it wasn’t made entirely of butter – look ahead to every year.
The Illinois State Fair website doesn’t disclose all of the materials used in the Butter Cow sculpture.
“500 pounds of unsalted butter are used to hand-sculpt the life-size figure.” Website reads. “The process takes about five days.” This probably signifies that since the complete sculpture weighs 800 kilos, the frame under the butter weighs about 300 kilos.
TODAY.com has reached out to the Illinois State Fair for extra comment.
On the opposite hand, the Iowa State Fair website reveals the materials used to make the sculpture.
“The butter cow starts with a frame of wood, metal, wire and steel mesh and weighs about 600 pounds. low-moisture, pure Iowa cream butter, – we read on the website. “Once inside the 40-degree cooler, layers of butter are applied until a life-size butter cow emerges – measuring approximately 5 1/2 feet tall and 8 feet long. Each year, a large proportion of the butter is recycled and can be reused for up to 10 years.”
TODAY.com also reached out to the Iowa State Fair for extra comment.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I feel strangely betrayed that the butter cow at the Iowa State Fair turns out to be a mesh sculpture covered in bits of butter rather than a cow made entirely of butter,” one person said. he tweeted in response to the news.
“All my life I thought an Iowa butter cow was solid butter 😭😭” he wrote other.
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