Things I Never Understood #1: Clothed Lawn Geese

On my walks around the 'hood I think about all kinds of things. Today it was those concrete geese that people dressed up back in the early 1990s.

I never understood why women were making fancy dresses and bonnets for concrete geese. There were all over! Often the geese had an old fashioned dress and a poke bonnet. I haven't seen one in a long time.

I did a quick Internet search and learned that the fad actually began in the 1980s in the area from Pittsburgh south to Kentucky and spread from there.

I found an Atlantic article from 2018 "Nothing Says Midwest Like a Well-Dressed Porch Goose" by Julie Beck that informs the demand for clothes was met by start-ups like Goose Clothes Galore. Then the pattern companies caught on.

Simplicity pattern for lawn geese clothes

Turns out outfits for lawn geese are still a hot commodity. You can order Christmas and even Halloween outfits on eBay,  Etsy and at Miles Kimball.

Miles Kimbal geese outfit

Apparently, there is a 'hipster' revival as a new generation inherits those concrete geese!

I found a Prairie costume along with all kinds of dresses at The Depot that felt like the classic clothes I recall seeing.

clothes from The Depot

At least one person is making dresses for their real geese, with patterns at House Goose.

If you have a goose and don't want to dress it you can learn how to repaint it at Petticoat JUNKtion.

Our little two-square-mile suburban town is writing ordinances for fowl keeping, so I guess this is the new trend: why have a fake fowl when you can get the real thing? We will have a limit of four hens per household and strict rules for housing and cleanup.

Now I wonder if they have patterns for chicken dresses...

The History of Goose Lawn Ornaments
https://www.ehow.com/info_8059753_history-goose-lawn-ornaments.html