Sacred Elephants

Perky Pink Elephant Planter, Perky Pink Elephant Planter...

Try saying that a few times fast, or even saying it once after you've had a cocktail!

My dear friend JoEllen gave me this vintage ceramic pink elephant for my birthday this week. Since my birthday falls close to Easter, she filled it with foil-wrapped chocolate bunnies and cellophane grass. I think it will look lovely with a small maidenhair fern or African violet sprouting out like a basket from his "saddle."

Photo ©2009 Jaya Savannah.

Immediately, I noticed that its trunk is raised up, which makes this piece a "lucky elephant." The history of elephants being considered an auspicious animal goes back to Ganesha, a Hindu deity associated with good beginnings (as seen in the above photo, next to the gift on my altar.) However, the elephant with raised trunk being used as a symbol of good luck seems to be more of an American mythology. Here is a link to an article from my favorite curio store, Lucky Mojo in neighboring Forestville all about The Lucky Elephant.

I also noticed that the planter is an African elephant. You can tell by his large ears!

Then the obvious dawned on me. OH! It's a pink elephant. That started to give me an idea of what vintage it might be (there's no company stamp on the planter.) It's probably from the 40's or 50's. That was during the pink elephant heyday!

So what's the meaning of pink elephants, anyway? They seem to be tied in with alcohol somehow.

One of the most famous examples is the pink elephant scene from Dumbo (1941) where Timothy and Dumbo accidentally get drunk on champagne and start hallucinating pink elephants on parade. That scene frightened me as a child, and it still seems creepy to me now. Here's the video clip:

If you're reading via RSS or email, click here to watch the video.

Yet I wondered if the phrase "seeing pink elephants" started because of Dumbo or from something else. Wikipedia to the rescue!

"Seeing pink elephants" is a euphemism for drunken hallucination, caused by alcoholic hallucinosis or delirium tremens. The first recorded use of the term is by Jack London in 1913, who describes one sort of alcoholic in the autobiographical John Barleycorn as "the man whom we all know, stupid, unimaginative, whose brain is bitten numbly by numb maggots; who walks generously with wide-spread, tentative legs, falls frequently in the gutter, and who sees, in the extremity of his ecstasy, blue mice and pink elephants. He is the type that gives rise to the jokes in the funny papers." London may have derived his metaphor from the 1890s saying "being followed by pink giraffes."

I had no idea that phrase came from Jack London. This soon to be released version of his "Alcoholic Memoirs" looks interesting. I don't know very much about his life, except that I've read Call of the Wild and have visited nearby Jack London State Park, where he wrote and drank until he died. He was integral to Sonoma County history (where I reside.) Perhaps I'll pick up a copy and take it with me for reading on a day hike at his park.

More information on pink elephants and vintage cocktail culture can be found on Shaken & Stirred, a blog about the "Wonderful World of Cocktail Shakers & Bar Ware Collecting, Cocktails, and Booze..." The blog's author, Jimbo (reminds me of Jumbo the elephant, or Jambo! which is hello in Swahili) did a nice historical overview in a post called The Pink Elephant. He's also got some great photos of 1940's pink elephant cocktail shakers and retro graphics! I also just learned that there is a cocktail called a Pink Elephant and he gives the recipe, too.

Which reminds me...

Photo ©2009 Jaya Savannah.

There's a bar called The Pink Elephant in Monte Rio, a speck of a town in the Russian River resort area of Northern California. I took that photo of the sign one day. It was around 1pm, and when I peered inside I could see quite a few hard-drinking types cloistered in the dark tavern. Frankly, it looks a bit rough, although I've heard that new owners have improved it since then and it's a pretty fun place to go (when you're in the mood for a dive bar kind of experience.) Hmmm... I wonder if they know how to make Pink Elephant cocktails there? This story might have to be continued later. Oh, the things I'll do for research!

7 Turkish Elephants and 1 Evil Eye

My friend Sarah returned from Istanbul with a marvelous gift for me! When she came up to visit yesterday, she presented me with a pretty gift bag, bursting with hot pink tissue. Reaching inside, I pulled out a metal elephant on a chain--then another, and another, and another--until the last charm was freed, a cobalt blue "evil eye." Too fun! I love it, and especially love that she brought it all the way back from her holiday in Turkey--just for me. *heart swell*

Amused and aware that elephants aren't native to Turkey, I asked Sarah if she knew anything about the meaning. She told me that she did the prerequisite haggling for the amulet at the Great Bazaar in Istanbul, and that they are a good luck symbol there (as they are everywhere.)

I knew the common usage of the blue glass eye (to repel envy and other negative thoughts) but what I didn't know is its proper name, "Nazar Boncuk."

So thinking about this particular piece, I see that the ellies are for bringing in good luck, while the glass eye protects me from others who are envious. I'm not one to indulge in superstition, but I do enjoy the romantic notion of talismans and fetishes. But I can tell it's already working! I'm truly lucky to have a friend like Sarah.

Stomper, the Oakland A's Elephant Mascot

Let me preface this by saying that I'm not a sports fan, and that although I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, I'm still pretty clueless about the baseball leagues here. (I've been to one pro game in my life, and that was at Yankee stadium in New York.) So when I saw this cute little elephant logo for the Oakland Athletics baseball team on a gift card at the Safeway checkout counter, it was a surprise to me. I was only familiar their traditional green and gold "A" logo.

When I got home and announced to my husband, a die-hard NY Yankees fan, that I was now an Oakland A's fan, I thought he might boot me out of the house. Instead, he looked at me with some measure of shock that I was declaring a team affiliation at all, and totally understood that if they have an elephant mascot that of course, they're my team. It also helped that his second-favorite team is our local Oakland A's. He never much paid attention to the elephant logo before though. For some mysterious reason, he's more interested in the sport of baseball, where I'm only interested in elephants in baseball.

Curious about the history of their elephant mascot, I did a little online research. Apparently, the A's white elephant mascot has been around since 1902. He's come in and out of use, but in recent years he makes public appearances at the games and goes by the name of Stomper.

Here's the fun part though. I was thinking that if he performs at games, then someone must have uploaded a video online. Yes, of course! What's so charming about Stomper's performances is that he is totally quirky and eclectic as the city of Oakland. His official theme song might be from Disney's Jungle Book, but his pre-game shows include get-up and get-down music by James Brown and Kool and the Gang. Stomper is also a totally hot hip-hop dancer.

I just love living in the Bay Area. Go A's!

If you're reading via RSS feed or email, click these links to watch Stomper's YouTube videos.

Stomper grooving on some James Brown and Morris Day.

Stomper dancing to "I Go to Work"

How Did the GOP Get the Elephant Icon? Can We Steal It Back?

As a conservationist, animal rights activist, and someone who hangs out with a pretty liberal crowd, I am surprisingly apolitical. Maybe it's just that I'm depressed by the corruption in the whole arena. It's not that I've given up, but I am weary of casting a ballot for yet another "no vote." One of my standard replies to the question of what party I'm registered for is this: "I just love parties! We should have them more often!" That's my attempt at bringing some humor to an otherwise serious topic. And if you're one of those close to me, you already know about my "don't send me political emails unless they're really funny rule." God bless those of you that know how to make me laugh.

So here's a political rant that I've been keeping close to my chest:

Why do Republicans think they have claims on the elephant as an icon?

This drives me absolutely mad: I'll be in traffic behind someone with an elephant bumper-sticker, and I'm thinking they're an elephant lover. But noooo... I get a little closer and realize that they're a Republican lover. And I'm such an elephant-centric neophyte, that it happens to me every time...again, and again.

So what's the deal with that anyway? Why does the GOP use the elephant? I know why the gay community uses the rainbow. I know why Christians use the cross. But why on earth did Republicans choose the elephant--an animal that isn't even native to our country? Google to the rescue.

It turns out that both the Republican Elephant and Democrat Ass go back to a cartoonist from 1874. Seriously out of date! Here's a couple links for people who want to know more:  

1. From the GOP-Republican Party Website
2. From FactFinder.com
3. From Wikipedia. Also includes an unsatisfying answer to why "Red vs. Blue?"

So what do you think:

• Should I turn into a political activist with a mission of reclaiming the elephant iconography?
• If I put a Save the Elephants sticker on my car, will I be inadvertently promoting the Republican party?
• Do Republicans really like the elephant?
• Are some of you Democrats jealous because they have the noble elephant, and you have an ass?

What are your thoughts?