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Fox Valley Traders
Through the calendar

The porch goose year by season

Dressing the lawn bird is a small Saturday habit across the Midwest. The cloth changes when the yard turns, which means the right outfit needs to sit on a closet shelf before the weather shifts. Here is how the year lays out across the pages of our catalog.

Spring10 outfitsSummer13 outfitsAutumn and winter10 outfitsAll year round9 outfits

Spring rain and growing weeks

The year starts in wet grass. A yellow raincoat goes on first while the ground thaws, followed by a gardener with small tools stitched to the front. By March a green leprechaun takes a turn by the door, and an Easter bunny carries the yard into April. Once the dandelions show up, the bird takes on brighter patterns. We carry a bumble bee, a winged butterfly, an arched rainbow and a bright strawberry for the weeks when the garden fills out. Each cloth slips over the neck and fastens beneath the wings, ready for a damp morning.

Easter · 1St Patrick's Day · 1

The long stretch of summer

Warm weather brings the fullest run on our shelves. A red bikini, a pink flamingo, a gray shark and a hot dog suit the middle of July. When someone spends Saturday by the water, the bird wears fishing gear or a print Hawaiian shirt. Uncle Sam covers the holiday picnic. For the small baby goose beside the large one, a tiny patriotic suit matches the front walk. Summer is also when people set out bundles, grouping the large white plastic bird with several changes of cloth so the whole season is handled in a single box.

Fourth of July · 3Graduation · 1

Autumn color through the long winter

September brings a sunflower, a printed fall leaf, a squirrel, a football uniform and a scarecrow. For Halloween, a ghost and a pumpkin take over the step. November has no separate outfit on our shelves, so the scarecrow or the leaf stays out until the first hard freeze. Winter is the leanest stretch. A red sweater with mistletoe covers December, or a jolly santa suit. After the new year, the bird stays in that winter cloth until the spring thaw, though everyday pieces like a chef, camouflage or a princess can fill any quiet gap.

Halloween · 3Thanksgiving · 2Christmas · 2

The outfits that never come off the list

Some cloth suits any month, which is what carries the bird through the weeks between holidays. There is no snow outfit in the line at all, so these are what stands out on a cold porch once the Christmas cloth comes off.

About the bird under the cloth

  • The large white plastic goose holds dry sand through a bottom rubber stopper and has a drainage hole.
  • The baby lawn bird takes sand through a rubber stopper underneath to stay upright in the yard.
  • The small desktop bird sits on an indoor shelf and has no opening for sand or water.
All 38 on the goose pageHow lawn goose outfits work on a porch