Saturday, July 15, 2006

Seattle's Pink Elephant


Ham has featured a series of elephant photos at London Daily Photo. I thought I'd send him greetings from Seattle's fun pink Elephant Car Wash landmark. Loved by children and adults alike, this rotating car wash sign has been delighting folks since the 1950s. It's especially fun to see at night as their are 380 blinking lights that move in sequence to create a bit of animation. I fell in love with these kitschy lighted signs at a very young age. My favorite was a rotating and saluting giant service station attendant at a Chevron gas station on the corner of Harbor Blvd. and Katella by Disneyland in Anaheim, CA. I also loved the many Googie architecture motel and business signs of the era. I've noticed a number of well preserved examples of these around Seattle (the most notable being this elephant) that I hope to show you in coming months. What have been your favorite signs like this?


c. 2006 Seattle Daily Photo

7 comments:

Chris said...

So cute !

Anonymous said...

Hehehe that pink elephant is lovely!

Ham said...

I love it! It's particularly nice that it has been around for so long and not reinvented.

Splash me down all over!

Unknown said...

Oh, this elephant is soo cute.

Oleanderman said...

Nice shot - I think elephants are getting more and more popular on our blogs - and deservedly so!

Eric said...

DON'T, I repeat, DON'T you ever let them take that sign down! It is awesome.

kitkatknit said...

The Pink Elephant Car Wash sign has delighted me since the mid-50's when we first moved to Auburn. (though I am not sure how long it has been there, it's one of my earliest memories)