The Butter Cow!

Entrance to the
State Fair

I didn't plan to blog twice about one trip.   However--when I posted on my facebook page that I was on my way to the Illinois State Fair two themes of comments from my friends quickly emerged and I knew both should be covered. 

The first theme was batter dipped and deep fried.  Many people recommended tasty deep fried treats that were not to be missed--and believe me, my friends and I did not miss any of them!

Butter Cow-MOOO!

And then there were several recommendations to see '"the Butter Cow."

"A cow that makes butter?  Don't they all?" I asked my friends.

"Oh no.  It is SO much better than that!  It is a cow sculpture made of butter!!"

I admit...I was intrigued.

So, we took a break from eating batter dipped deep fried foods, and set off for the Dairy Building-besides, after all all of our deep fried feasts we needed the exercise!

Butter Piglet!

Inside was not "just a butter cow."  There was a pastoral scene carved entirely out of butter!  Complete with a piglet, mice, a redbird, our state flowers and many other symbols of Illinois...It was much more impressive than I expected it to be.

Butter Mice

The butter cow has been an unofficial icon of the fair since the 1920's. Eight hundred pounds of butter were used to sculpt the life size figure by hand over a wire and wood frame. This year the process took five days (about 62 hours) to complete. After the fair, the butter will be removed and reused in another sculpture next year--this is the third year they have used the butter. 

The butter cow is kept in a showcase that spins so you can see the cow from every angle.  It is 39 degrees inside the case. 

"Charm" with her friend
the red bird

If you have never seen a butter cow, it is worth the trip. 

This year's sculpture was created by Sharon BuMann and is modeled after a cow named Charm.

If you can't make it down to Springfield to see the butter cow, you can check out all the action online, thanks to the Illinois State Fair's online Cowcam. 

There is still time to see the fair and the butter cow. 
The fair runs from August 12-22, 2011 in Springfield.