Purple cow
Encyclopedia
The purple cow initially became famous as a chimerical
referent in a short humorous verse, but has since come to refer to a diverse range of other things, including sports teams, food, wine, and tobacco products, as well as marketing practices in general. Yet all these examples retain the common theme of a sense of something out of the ordinary.
, written in 1895:
It was often quoted, and many of his contemporaries aped the poem. One such example, by Englishman Robert S. Kane, typically lacked quite the same bouncy panache:
Famously, Burgess became somewhat exasperated with the success of his poem, of which he was constantly reminded. A few years later, he penned a riposte that became almost as well-known as the original. It was titled "Confession: and a Portrait Too, Upon a Background that I Rue" and appeared in The Lark, number 24 (April 1, 1897):
However, the original has, in its own small way, become a classic, and parodic versions are common, and are still being produced today:
and by Ogden Nash
:
In a different vein, by Tom Montgomery
Gelett Burgess's poem is yet another interpretation:
Or another tribute:
holds College Night every year for homecoming, in which the Purple Team (Cows) competes against the Gold Team (Lions).
The Purple Cow is also the mascot for Williams College
and for one of the four classes at Russell Sage College
.
made with grape soda. It may also refer to a mixed drink containing vodka and grape juice, much like a screwdriver, with grape juice substituted for orange juice.
Purple Cow ice cream or yogurt is black raspberry ice cream or yogurt with chocolate and white chocolate chips.
Purple Cow is also the name of the ice cream shop found inside many Meijer
stores, although Purple Cows were more commonly found in Meijer stores in the 1980s. Founder Fred Meijer would commonly hand out cards for free ice cream at any Meijer Purple Cow to customers or as ice breakers and has reportedly given such cards to Jimmy Carter
, Generals Colin Powell
and Norman Schwarzkopf, and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.
Kraft Foods
' best-selling brand of milk chocolate, Milka
, also has used a purple cow as a well-known symbol in its print and TV advertisements for several decades. The "Milka Cow" is a lilac and white colored Swiss Simmental cow sporting a bell around her neck, usually shown in an Alpine meadow. The name Milka is derived from combining Milch and Kakao (the German terms for milk and cocoa, its primary ingredients). The chocolates are also distinctively packaged in purple wrapping paper, which is even protected by trademark in Europe.
Purple Cow is also the name of a company in the Philippines
that is known for its milkshakes. Its milkshakes come in chocolate, vanilla, cookies and cream, cheese and mocha. The company sells in fairs, bazaars, children's parties and corporate events. It was founded by seven seniors of the Ateneo de Manila University
as a business thesis.
An award-winning restaurant chain in the southern United States, The Purple Cow has locations in several states and features burgers, shakes and other traditional "diner" foods.
In the late 1960s, there was a grape-flavored taffy lollipop
called Purple Cow. It was similar to a Sugar Daddy.
Brayton Laguna hired Andy Anderson as his first out of house designer while working for Brayton Laguna in the 1950s. Anderson designed the purple cow family set which include in a bull, a cow, and a calf. Anderson took his inspiration for the set from Gelett Burgess' first purple cow poem, "The Purple Cow: Reflections on a Mythic Beast Who's Quite Remarkable, at Least". The poem was included on the cow, printed on a sticker and it goes like this. "I never saw a purple cow, I never hope to see one but I can tell anyhow, I rather see than be one".
Today, the most coveted piece from the collection is the bulls. For some reason, not as many of the bulls have survived as have the cows and calves. A complete set that was painted by the same Brayton Laguna decorator is very impressive. Many pieces of the pottery appeared to be unmarked or have lost their original stickers. So the clue to discovering if it is Brayton Laguna is if you find the decorators initial written in pencil on the bottom of the piece. After the passing of Dorland Brayton in 1968, the pottery closed and the factory buildings now houses the Laguna Art Center.
Hybrid word
A hybrid word is a word which etymologically has one part derived from one language and another part derived from a different language.-Common hybrids:The most common form of hybrid word in English is one which combines etymologically Latin and Greek parts...
referent in a short humorous verse, but has since come to refer to a diverse range of other things, including sports teams, food, wine, and tobacco products, as well as marketing practices in general. Yet all these examples retain the common theme of a sense of something out of the ordinary.
In literature
Purple Cow is the name of a well-known poem by Gelett BurgessGelett Burgess
Frank Gelett Burgess was an artist, art critic, poet, author and humorist. An important figure in the San Francisco Bay Area literary renaissance of the 1890s, particularly through his iconoclastic little magazine, The Lark, he is best known as a writer of nonsense verse...
, written in 1895:
I never saw a purple cow.
I never hope to see one.
But I can tell you anyhow
I'd rather see than be one.
It was often quoted, and many of his contemporaries aped the poem. One such example, by Englishman Robert S. Kane, typically lacked quite the same bouncy panache:
The purple cow
I have fortunately seen.
It is as you'd never expect
crossed with an aubergine.
Standing on a field
or laid in on a plate
it is not as you'd expect:
cross, and a no mistake.
Famously, Burgess became somewhat exasperated with the success of his poem, of which he was constantly reminded. A few years later, he penned a riposte that became almost as well-known as the original. It was titled "Confession: and a Portrait Too, Upon a Background that I Rue" and appeared in The Lark, number 24 (April 1, 1897):
Ah, yes, I wrote the "Purple Cow"—
I'm Sorry, now, I wrote it;
But I can tell you Anyhow
I'll Kill you if you Quote it!
However, the original has, in its own small way, become a classic, and parodic versions are common, and are still being produced today:
I've never seen a purple cow.
My eyes with tears are full.
I've never seen a purple cow,
And I'm a purple bull.
I've never seen a purple cow.
I never hope to see one.
But from the milk we're getting now,
There certainly must be one!
and by Ogden Nash
Ogden Nash
Frederic Ogden Nash was an American poet well known for his light verse. At the time of his death in 1971, the New York Times said his "droll verse with its unconventional rhymes made him the country's best-known producer of humorous poetry".-Early life:Nash was born in Rye, New York...
:
I've never seen an abominable snowman,
I'm hoping not to see one,
I'm also hoping, if I do,
That it will be a wee one.
In a different vein, by Tom Montgomery
Gelett Burgess's poem is yet another interpretation:
I never was a vitamin;
I never hope to be one;
but I can tell you anyhow;
I'd rather C than B1!
Or another tribute:
I've never heard a cat meow.
I'd never want to feed one.
But I can tell you Anyhow,
It's some trouble to de-flea one.
- Cow's Meow, Täs Zinck
In competition
The University of MontevalloUniversity of Montevallo
The University of Montevallo is a four-year public university located in Montevallo, Alabama, USA. Founded in 1896, it is Alabama's only public liberal arts college and a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. Programs are offered through the Michael E...
holds College Night every year for homecoming, in which the Purple Team (Cows) competes against the Gold Team (Lions).
The Purple Cow is also the mascot for Williams College
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...
and for one of the four classes at Russell Sage College
Russell Sage College
Russell Sage College is a women's college located in Troy, New York, approximately north of New York City in the Capital District. It is one of the three colleges that make up The Sage Colleges...
.
Food and beverage
Purple cow may also refer to an ice cream sodaIce cream soda
An ice cream soda or float , coke float , or spider , is a beverage that consists of one or more scoops of ice cream in either a soft drink or in a mixture of flavored syrup and carbonated water.-Origins:The ice cream soda was invented by Robert M...
made with grape soda. It may also refer to a mixed drink containing vodka and grape juice, much like a screwdriver, with grape juice substituted for orange juice.
Purple Cow ice cream or yogurt is black raspberry ice cream or yogurt with chocolate and white chocolate chips.
Purple Cow is also the name of the ice cream shop found inside many Meijer
Meijer
Meijer, Inc. is a regional American hypermarket chain based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1934 as a supermarket chain, Meijer is credited with pioneering the modern supercenter concept in 1962. About half of the company's 196 stores are located in Michigan, with additional locations in...
stores, although Purple Cows were more commonly found in Meijer stores in the 1980s. Founder Fred Meijer would commonly hand out cards for free ice cream at any Meijer Purple Cow to customers or as ice breakers and has reportedly given such cards to Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
, Generals Colin Powell
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...
and Norman Schwarzkopf, and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.
Kraft Foods
Kraft Foods
Kraft Foods Inc. is an American confectionery, food and beverage conglomerate. It markets many brands in more than 170 countries. 12 of its brands annually earn more than $1 billion worldwide: Cadbury, Jacobs, Kraft, LU, Maxwell House, Milka, Nabisco, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Trident, Tang...
' best-selling brand of milk chocolate, Milka
Milka
Milka is a brand of milk chocolate manufactured by Kraft Foods. It is sold in bar form, in holiday shapes, and in a variety of specialty forms....
, also has used a purple cow as a well-known symbol in its print and TV advertisements for several decades. The "Milka Cow" is a lilac and white colored Swiss Simmental cow sporting a bell around her neck, usually shown in an Alpine meadow. The name Milka is derived from combining Milch and Kakao (the German terms for milk and cocoa, its primary ingredients). The chocolates are also distinctively packaged in purple wrapping paper, which is even protected by trademark in Europe.
Purple Cow is also the name of a company in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
that is known for its milkshakes. Its milkshakes come in chocolate, vanilla, cookies and cream, cheese and mocha. The company sells in fairs, bazaars, children's parties and corporate events. It was founded by seven seniors of the Ateneo de Manila University
Ateneo de Manila University
The Ateneo de Manila University is a private teaching and research university run by the Society of Jesus in the Philippines. It began in 1859 when the City of Manila handed control of the Escuela Municipal de Manila in Intramuros, Manila, to the Jesuits...
as a business thesis.
An award-winning restaurant chain in the southern United States, The Purple Cow has locations in several states and features burgers, shakes and other traditional "diner" foods.
In the late 1960s, there was a grape-flavored taffy lollipop
Lollipop
A lollipop, pop, lolly, sucker, or sticky-pop is a type of confectionery consisting mainly of hardened, flavored sucrose with corn syrup mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking. They are available in many flavors and shapes.- Types :Lollipops are available in a number of colors and...
called Purple Cow. It was similar to a Sugar Daddy.
Collectible figurines
In the 1950s the Purple Cow Family was created by Andy Anderson of the Brayton Laugune studio of Laguna Beach, California. Dorland Brayton, an alumnus of Hollywood High School in Chicago Art Institute began his pottery in Laguna Beach, California, in 1927. His home pottery studio turned into a thriving business and is awarded the first Disney license to create figurines based on Disney characters. Brayton Laguna kept the license until 1941. During World War II, Brayton Laguna thrived as did many potters in the United States. The embargo on imported goods from Europe and Japan helped focus buyers on domestic artisans.Brayton Laguna hired Andy Anderson as his first out of house designer while working for Brayton Laguna in the 1950s. Anderson designed the purple cow family set which include in a bull, a cow, and a calf. Anderson took his inspiration for the set from Gelett Burgess' first purple cow poem, "The Purple Cow: Reflections on a Mythic Beast Who's Quite Remarkable, at Least". The poem was included on the cow, printed on a sticker and it goes like this. "I never saw a purple cow, I never hope to see one but I can tell anyhow, I rather see than be one".
Today, the most coveted piece from the collection is the bulls. For some reason, not as many of the bulls have survived as have the cows and calves. A complete set that was painted by the same Brayton Laguna decorator is very impressive. Many pieces of the pottery appeared to be unmarked or have lost their original stickers. So the clue to discovering if it is Brayton Laguna is if you find the decorators initial written in pencil on the bottom of the piece. After the passing of Dorland Brayton in 1968, the pottery closed and the factory buildings now houses the Laguna Art Center.