Mister Ed began collecting elephants on February 26, 1967, his wedding date. He and his wife Pat received an elephant with its trunk up for good luck from their sister-in-law as a wedding present. You can see the elephant in one of the display cases in the middle of the room. It’s a rather nondescript wooden elephant. Then the newlyweds went on their honeymoon to Williamsburg, Va., where they picked up a few more elephants. On the drive home, Mister Ed turned to Pat and said, “I think I’m going to start collecting elephants.” And he did.
For years, wherever they traveled, they bought elephants. Friends and family would buy elephants for them as well. The collection grew and grew—it just got out of hand. Eventually the elephants ended up in boxes in their basement. The basement flooded, creating a big mess, and Pat said, “You’ve got to find something to do with all these elephants!”
Ed cleaned them up and displayed some of them in his general store. They created interest, so when he opened Mister Ed’s in its new location, he made the elephant museum a featured part of the business. The museum opened with about 3,000 elephants, and soon grew to about 5,000 elephants with many donations from visitors coming in. Sadly, we had a fire in 2010 that destroyed about 2,000 elephants. But the community rallied together, and we had people just dropping off elephant donations on our front porch. You can see those donations in the hallway leading up to the museum.
Today it holds about 12,000 elephants. We have the same amount in storage, about 500 in our offices upstairs, and 3,000 elephants at a friend’s business, the Al Ringling Mansion in Baraboo, Wisconsin—yes…that Ringling. We have elephants large and small made from nearly every substance known to man.
What was Mister Ed’s favorite elephant? Go to the center of the room and find the head with elephants coming out of it. He purchased that elephant in Mexico from a local artist, Sergio Bustamante. It always reminded him that he had elephants on his mind. This piece was destroyed in the fire, but our long-time fudge maker paid an artist to restore it, and it remains a treasured piece of our collection.
See those footprints on the floor? Those are the actual size of an elephant footprint. Be sure to read some of the interesting facts about elephants displayed on the glass.