On this Thanksgiving, a holiday incomplete without the demise of iconic poultry, offer a moment of silence – between chews of white meat, if necessary – for another feathered symbol: the pink flamingo.

November is the swan song for this objet d’art of suburban America, as the Leominster, Mass., factory that hatched the tacky totem, Union Products, has emptied the nest. The factory was battered by a maelstrom of cost increases, forcing the hatchery to ground the pink plastic flamingo after 50 years.

Its passing was reviled as a sad milestone, a bellyful of birdshot straight to the heart of America’s kitsch culture. Like the velvet Elvis before it, a final vestige of American so-trashy-it’s-cool chic flew south when the last pink flamingo ran off the line.

It’s sad to see this epoch of ornithological ornamentation pass. Yet the pink flamingo’s demise should work to remind us about the fleetingness of cultural icons. The cheap plastic bird, at one time, carried a social value far higher than its price at the cash register.

The same is true for modern cultural emblems, especially during this time of year.

Take the PlayStation 3, for example, the technological gaming marvel that turned consumers into campfire crazies outside electronics retailers nationwide. In New York City, warm bodies earned ready cash just for holding a spot in line. In Connecticut, an altercation over a PS3 led to a shooting.

The funniest bit came courtesy of John Edwards, the former North Carolina senator and vice presidential candidate, whose public vitriol toward Wal-Mart didn’t prevent one of his staffers from calling an area Wal-Mart and name-dropping to earn the ex-senator preferential treatment for a PS3.

It’s just a toy, folks, a symbol of the modern computer culture that, in 50 years, will be as outdated as the pink flamingo. Owning a coveted PS3 could become the 21st-century equivalent of planting a flamingo in the yard: a statement more about the homeowner than the bird itself.

The morning after Thanksgiving is the official start to the holiday shopping season, when scores of shoppers descend on retailers on the day now known as “Black Friday.” It’s a gold rush for the temporary items that dominate the giving season, yet obscure the true meaning of the holidays.

Since it isn’t the passing fads that are most important around the holidays. Rather, it’s the permanent things – family, good friends and good cheer – that thrive long after the shine leaves the latest frivolity that should be celebrated. Material symbols often melt in the hearth of a happy home.

So as you enjoy Thanksgiving today – and the remainder of the holiday season – remember that passing fancies always fade, while permanent holiday icons make the real memories.

In other words, pink flamingos will come and go. Only the turkey is forever.