People feel betrayed after realising the Iowa State Fair butter cow wasn’t completely made of butter
Stewart Perrie
Featured Image Credit: Caroline Brehman/CQ Roll Call. Twitter/217Problems
There are certain things that you find out in life that shatter your view of the world.
Things like Santa and the Tooth Fairy not being real or that your friends in high school might not be your friends in adult life are really difficult pills to swallow.
Well, you can add in the Iowa State Fair butter cow to that mix.
Deep breaths.
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It's an attraction that has been around for decades.
The first was constructed all the way back in 1911 when J.K. Daniels moulded butter until it looked like a cow.
It's also developed into such a scene that there are accompanying butter sculptures every year and they sound fairly impressive.
The year 1997 saw a butter Elvis Presley while 2012 had a butter recreation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
But let's get back to the cow.
Every year, the Iowa State Fair butter sculptor is tasked with making the legendary cow and every year they have to dismantle it once the event is finished.
A photo made its way to the internet that showed how underneath the buttery skin of the cow was a humungous wire mesh.
RIP the 2023 butter cow 🧈🐄 pic.twitter.com/gCt7lFL0Xy
— 217Problems (@217Problems) August 21, 2023
Safe to say, people were horrified that the whole thing wasn't all butter.
One said: "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I feel weirdly betrayed that the Iowa State Fair butter cow turns out to be a mesh sculpture covered in slabs of butter instead of a cow entirely made of butter."
Another added: "Should have never shown how the sausage is made, now everyone is disappointed that the cow wasn't pure butter."
A third wrote: "I feel deceived. It should have been a solid block of butter. If we cannot believe in butter cows, what can we believe in."
It seems like the Iowa State Fair isn't hiding this news as it states it on its website.
"The Butter Cow starts with a wood, metal, wire and steel mesh frame and about 600 lbs. of low moisture, pure cream Iowa butter," the site said.
"Once inside the 40-degree cooler, layers of butter are applied until a life-size butter cow emerges - measuring about 5-1/2-ft high and 8-ft long.
"Each year, much of the butter is recycled and can be reused for up to 10 years.
"A real dairy cow weighs more than 1,000 pounds, but the butter version comes in at around 600 pounds."
The Iowa State Fair said the amount of butter that covers the cow could butter about 19,200 slices of toast and take an average person two lifetimes to consume.