(WXYZ) — The annual Michigan State Fair is ready to help people ring in the Labor Day weekend.
The fair that's been a staple since 1849 has something for everyone at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi.
The butter cow is one of the most iconic items on display at the entrance. As the name suggests, it's a cow called Mel made of butter, along with Margie the dog, punchy the goat, and Jojo the calf.
"There's a quarter of a ton of butter, over 500 pounds total for all of these sculptors; it takes 4 sculptors 5 days and about 250 actual man-hours to make this," said Dean Angott, president of CF Burger Creamery.
CF Burger Creamery is the company behind the butter cow sculptures, a tradition that dates back to the early 20th century.
"Michigan State's fair butter cow started about 1940, and the butter cow became symbolic of the state fair. And it really started capturing people's attention right after World War II, because America had just come off of butter rationing, amongst so many other things. And now this was a symbol of dairy is back. Butter is back," said Angott.
"Why keep up with the tradition of having butter cows at the Michigan State Fair?" asked Faraz Javed, 7 News Detroit reporter.
"Because it is the absolute welcoming center representing the Michigan State Fair. This is where people come and take pictures right away as their souvenir and their experience of the Michigan State Fair," said Angott.
Angott says it also is a tribute to the Michigan dairy industry. According to milkmeansmore.org, Michigan ranks 6th in milk production in the country, producing over 11 billion pounds of milk.
"I did the dog. I put the butter on for the goat and the calf," said Rachel Wolski, one of the sculptors.
Wolski worked on 15 of these butter cows over the years.
"What was the hardest part of putting them all together?" asked Javed.
"It's just working in here, can't stand here for too long; you gotta get out and warm up, because the sculptures are in a refrigerated case of 40 degrees," said Wolski.
As for maintenance, Wolski still has the leftover butter.
"It comes in a box and 55 pound blocks, I cut the box in half, and I let it warm up for 2 days. And then it gets soft, and this consistency, like this ... and then we can mold it on, you know, it's like clay, basically," said Wolski.
But there is much more at the State Fair, including watching pig races to logging demos, and even jamming to tunes with singer-songwriter Mckayla Prew.
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Angott says the butter used for the butter cow will not go to waste at all. Most of it gets used by farmers as feed for their animals. In the meantime, the Michigan State Fair wraps up this Monday. To learn more, click here: https://www.michiganstatefairllc.com/
