Today’s Zippy, with 19th-century novelty architecture:
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From Wikipedia:
The Elephantine Colossus, otherwise known as the Colossal Elephant or the Elephant Colossus, or by its function as the Elephant Hotel, was a tourist attraction located on Coney Island that was built in the shape of an elephant. An example of novelty architecture, the seven-story tall structure designed by James V. Lafferty stood above Surf Avenue and West 12th Street from 1885 until 1896, when it burnt down in a fire. During its lifespan, the thirty-one room building acted as a hotel, concert hall, and amusement bazaar.
It was the second of three elephants built by Lafferty, preceded by Atlantic City’s Lucy the Elephant and followed by The Light of Asia in Cape May.
The Elephant Hotel in a contemporary photograph:
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Earlier on this blog: from 4/18/15 “Artificial elephants and X Must Die! movies”, a Zippy with Lucy the Margate Elephant (in Margate City NJ, near Atlantic City), constructed by Lafferty in 1881.
Notes. The title of the strip, “Not a real Republican”, alludes to the elephant as the symbol of the (U.S.) Republican Party, to claims that some who identify as Republicans are not real Republicans but are RINOs (Republicans In Name Only), and to the Elephantine Colossus as a building, not a real elephant.
And of course, elephant in your yard (in the strip) and 31-room elephant in the room (in my title) are allusions. From Wikipedia:
“Elephant in the room” or ” Elephant in the living room ‘ is an English metaphorical idiom for an obvious truth that is going unaddressed. The idiomatic expression also applies to an obvious problem or risk no one wants to discuss. It is based on the idea/thought that an elephant in a room would be impossible to overlook.
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