Purple Cow
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"Purple Cow" is a short nonsense poem by American writer Gelett Burgess. It was first published in 1895.
PoemEdit
<poem>
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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
</poem>
Publication historyEdit
The poem was first published in the first issue of Burgess's magazine The Lark in May 1895 and became his most widely known work.<ref name="Richards2002">Template:Cite book</ref> It originally had the longer title "The Purple Cow's projected feast/Reflections on a Mythic Beast/Who's Quite Remarkable, at Least".<ref name="Gray2004">Template:Cite book</ref> This publication of the poem also included an illustration by Burgess featuring a cow jumping over an art nouveau fence heading towards a naked human, with both the cow and the human filled in black.<ref name="Gray2004"/> A poster version of his illustration is part of the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The poem became popular, eventually becoming what one commentator called "[t]he most quoted poem in twentieth-century America, after 'The Night Before Christmas'".<ref name="Silvey1995">Template:Cite book</ref> In addition to being widely anthologized,<ref name="Richards2002"/> it was often transmitted orally without credit to Burgess.<ref name="Gray2004"/> Many years after its appearance, publicist Jim Moran appeared at Burgess's home with a cow he had painted purple.<ref name="Gardner2012"/>
Burgess came to resent its popularity. A few years after writing the poem, Burgess wrote another short poem in response, titled "Confession: and a Portrait Too, Upon a Background that I Rue", which appeared in the final issue of The Lark in April 1897:<ref name="MontanarelliHarrison2005">Template:Cite book</ref>
<poem>
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!<ref name="Gutenberg etext">Template:Cite book</ref>
</poem>
Afterlife of the poemEdit
Several parodies of "The Purple Cow" have been written by others, including O. Henry.<ref name="Gardner2012">Template:Cite book</ref>
United States President Harry S. Truman was once asked by UFO researcher and publisher James W. Moseley if he'd ever seen a UFO. Truman reportedly responded by reciting lines from Burgess's poem. <ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
"Purple Cow Creamery" is also the name of the creamery owned by Meijer stores which creates their Purple Cow brand ice cream. The Purple Cow brand started in 1934 and was an ice cream shop inside of Meijer stores starting in the 1960s.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The name is based on Burgess's poem shared by founder Fred Meijer to his three sons.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Fred Meijer handed out cards for free ice cream at any Meijer Purple Cow ice cream shop to customers as part of a promotional campaign.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Irrel<ref name="SmithHarmsel2009">Template:Cite book</ref>
The "Purple Cow Drive-In" ice-cream stand in Crimora, Virginia has a purple cow head on a post. Its status as a local landmark led to the naming of Purple Cow Road.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} </ref>
Marketer Seth Godin has used the phrase "Purple Cow" for the concept of marketing a product as "intrinsically different" in his book, Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Kuchner2011">Template:Cite book</ref> The phrase has also been used for the marketing concept of choosing a name which "makes your audience stop in their tracks and wonder why the title was chosen."<ref name="Rogers2014">Template:Cite book</ref>
A purple cow is the mascot of Williams College, a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, which was named after the college's humor magazine Purple Cow, which, in turn, took its name from Burgess's poem.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
A slightly modified version of the final line of the poem is referenced in the book Fletch and the Man Who (1983) by Gregory Mcdonald in the line Template:Quote in which Filby is making fun of not only Fletch but his albatross of a first name, which is a recurring theme in the series of books.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Purple Cow is a pipe tobacco blend manufactured by Cornell & Diehl blended by the late Bob Runowski and crafted for the Chicago Pipe Show years ago.