Butter sculptures at the Iowa State Fair

The butter cow, an Iowa State Fair staple since 1911 when J.K. Daniels sculpted the first one,[1] is located in the Agricultural Building. After sculpting her first butter cow in 1960, Norma "Duffy" Lyon sculpted all six breeds of dairy cows over the next 45 years, as well as Garth Brooks, a butter version of Grant Wood's American Gothic, the Peanuts characters, Iowa native John Wayne, Elvis Presley, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, various animals and a butter rendition of Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper. Lyon was succeeded in 2006 by her longtime apprentice, Sarah Pratt.

John K. Daniels' butter cow at the 1911 Iowa State Fair.

Annual sculptures

Year Additional Butter Sculpture
1996Grant Wood's "American Gothic" (honoring Iowa's Sesquicentennial)
1997Elvis Presley
1998An American eagle
1999Duffy's own version of Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper"
2000Christian Peterson sculpting "The Gentle Doctor" statue (Petersen was Duffy's mentor and teacher.)
2001John Wayne
2002Peanuts Gang
2003Harley-Davidson motorcycle (in honor of the company's 100th anniversary)
2004Birthday cake in honor of the Fair's Sesquicentennial and an Iowa barn
2005Tiger Woods
2006"Mr. State Fair" Bill Riley (in honor of his 60th Fair) and Superman (Norwalk, Iowa, native Brandon Routh)
2007Harry Potter
2008Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson and a tribute to four Iowans who changed the face of the world's agriculture: Etta May Budd, George Washington Carver, Henry Wallace and Norman Borlaug.
2009Tribute to the 40th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s walk on the moon
201050th anniversary of Dr. Seuss’ "Green Eggs and Ham"
2011Replica of 1911 butter cow sculptures, including a calf, young boy and chicken. A sculpture of a young girl with a butterfly was added as a tribute to Norma "Duffy" Lyon.
201275th anniversary of Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
2013A Tribute to the Historic Lincoln Highway (and President Lincoln)
201425th anniversary of Field of Dreams
2015Monopoly's mascot Rich Uncle Pennybags - 80th Anniversary
201650th Anniversary of Star Trek - Captain Kirk, Spock, Dr. McCoy, and Uhura
2017150th Birthday of Laura Ingalls Wilder
2018100th Anniversary of John Deere's Waterloo Boy Tractor[2]
201950th Anniversary of Sesame Street
2020Cancelled due to COVID-19
2021TBD

References

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