The Ohio State Fair’s best kept secret has been unveiled, and it’s bringing some holiday spirit to a summer tradition. This year’s butter display, presented by the American Dairy Association Mideast, celebrates 35 years of the classic holiday film, “A Christmas Story,” which was filmed in Cleveland in 1983.
Inside the cooler, sculptors have recreated some of the movie’s iconic scenes in butter, including Ralphie in his bunny suit, a Christmas tree decorated with real twinkling lights, Randy in his snow suit and, of course, the iconic leg lamp. And someone must have triple-dog-dared the butter calf because her tongue is stuck to a pole right alongside Flick as the traditional butter cow looks on.
Sculptors spent about 400 hours in a 46 degree cooler to create the buttery works of art from more than a ton of butter.
The butter sculptures are on display in the Dairy Products Building at the Ohio State Fair from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. through August 5. The outside of the building features a brand-new, hand-painted mural saluting those who are Undeniably Devoted to Dairy. This epic display of devotion, which spans approximately 58 feet long and 14 feet high, celebrates Ohio’s dairy farmers and their proud contributions to communities across the state.
To learn more about the history of the butter cow display and the sculpting process, check out this video.
