When we rebranded from Ridgeview to Mad Cow over four years ago, I knew we needed one thing above all else: a stress Patty.
For those who are new these parts, Patty is our bovinely mascot (mooscot?). Our company logo was inspired by a piece of clipart I stumbled across long ago of an super grumpy cow, which I instantly fell in love with. After a decade of obsession, I asked the incredibly talented designer John Patzman of 1000 Robots Design to create our very own “mad” cow.
From there, we decided to take Patty 3D and turn her into a squeezable cow pal for when the stresses of the world just become too much. Over the years, we’ve gifted herds of Pattys to clients, partners and friends, and they’ve taken her around the world.
Patty’s path to stardom
It feels like Ruth Klossner and the Mad Cow team could have been separated at birth because HOLY COW!
Ruth’s Cow Collector’s Moo-seum of 19,827 cows put her in the Guinness Book of World Records a few years ago—and also put our love of cows to shame. Last we read in May 2025, she was up to 21,805 cows!
“The cows are multiplying like rabbits!!!” — Ruth Klossner (a.k.a. Cowlady), Cow Collector’s Mooseum
We first featured Ruth and her Moo-seum in our April 2022 issue of The Moos News, Mad Cow’s monthly newsletter. After that moosletter feature, we knew we had to campaign to get Patty into this epic cow hall of fame. And by “campaign,” I mean we sent an email.
(Need to sign up for our moosletter? You can do so here!)
On the Moo-seum campaign trail
I personally reached out to Ruth, singing Patty’s praises and asking her to consider accepting our li’l stress cow into her (very) large herd.
Lo and behold, less than five minutes later, Ruth had replied with the good news: Patty’s in! 🙌
We were all so proud, and Patty’s fans were eager to congratulate her on her achievement. “So proud of Patty!,” exclaimed Rebecca from Fort Collins. And John from Denver (no, not John Denver) agreed, “Wow, what a great collection for Patty to be part of!”
It’s official!
Two weeks later, Patty (and a collection of her own) completed her journey from Colorado to Minnesota. Ruth wasted no time getting everyone and everything catalogued, making Patty’s admission to the Cow Collector’s Moo-seum official.
“I’ve already officially entered the pieces in the collection,” Ruth shared. “They’re numbers 20,102 through 20,105. Each has been individually photographed for my records, in addition to this group photo.”
What’s next for the Moo-seum?
The Cow Collector’s Moo-seum has gotten a healthy amount of press for such a singular menagerie.
Below is a short list of articles (many with accompanying videos) where you can learn more about how Ruth’s collection got started (an $8 white plaster cow and a calf statue) and how she landed in the Guinness Book of World Records:
- Finding Minnesota: Ruth Klossner’s Moo-seum, CBS Minnesota
- Landmarks (video), PBS
- Minnesota woman collects 19,827 cow-related items in ‘Mooseum,’ UPI Odd News
- Moo-seum! World’s Largest Cow Collection, NewUlm.com
- ‘Cow lady’ of Bernadotte has world’s largest collection of cows, Fox 9 KMSP
- Ruth Klossner’s Moo-seum of cow items, AgProud
- Bernadotte ‘cow lady’ opens ‘moo-seum’ for holiday open house, St. Peter Herald
As for the future of the Moo-seum and Ruth’s very fine bovines, that’s still a big question mark.
“People wonder when the cows are going to push me out,” says Ruth. “Nope, I just push the cows closer together!” Ruth recently added an addition to her house, which is already full. She’s also in talks with her family and the town of Bernadotte, MN, about what happens to her collection once she’s not able to run the Moo-seum.
Until then, you can visit Patty and the rest of the ever-increasing herd, should you find yourself in the area. Ruth offers tours by appointment (507-240-0048 or cowlady@centurylink.net), and she also holds an open house for bovine lovers every summer.
Be sure to tell Patty that Jason sent you. 👋
Wanna see what else Patty’s been up to?
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