"New York has been content to suffer its citizens to be allured to the sea at some remote Newport or Mount Desert or Cape May, while its own superb sea front was disregarded, until within two or three years some shrewd genius rubbed Aladdin's lamp, and vast and delightful and well-appointed palaces have arisen by the sea - people's palaces, the marine villas of the royal public. The throngs that swarm to the beaches are innumerable. The elevated roads to the city on the extreme western and eastern sides bring their passengers to the very wharf of the steamers that ply to the roads connecting with the sea-side, and in the country for a hundred miles around New York excursions to the beaches are organized, and farmer boys who have never seen any landscape but their native hills may be whirled through the wonders of the city to the wonders of the shore, and see more people assembled in one house than they have ever seen together anywhere."
The photograph below includes the Elephant Hotel* which was opened in 1885, faced the sea and was the westward neighbour to the Sea Beach Palace, shown centrally. By the time this photograph was taken, the laying out of the first lateral roads in the island had started. Merry-go-rounds, amusements and rides including the first roller coaster had also started to appear making the resort even more popular.
The merit of the quality of the Sea Beach hotel building is the fact that it lasted so exceptionally long for a Coney Island hotel, right up until it was cleared in 1923 when Surf Avenue was widened and one of the great amusement parks, Luna Park, was expanded. Luna Park was built adjacent to and behind the hotel, in fact, over the site of the elephant hotel, shown in the photograph. When he was having Luna Park built, proprietor Fred Thompson (who held that elephants brought good luck) was pleased to discover the foundations of one of the feet of the Elephant hotel.
The illustration of the hotel on the tradecard is from an earlier period when patrons were able to look straight out on to the beach and the sea, go promenading and hire the flannel suits for a swim. A pleasant journey in from Manhattan by steamship to Bay Ridge and on by dedicated railway straight to the Hotel must have been a pleasant route.
* In the naughty nineties, 'Going to see the Elephant' became a Victorian euphemism for a bit of hanky-panky by the seaside!
Because of the bad reputation that Coney Island had, the name itself became little used and 'West Brighton', 'Manhattan Beach' and 'Brighton Beach' were the alternatives used at the time. The area of Coney Island called West Brighton still had a somewhat dubious reputation but this was soon drowned out by the burgeoning tide of new buisinesses, posh hotels and highly popular amusements which brought forth huge crowds from the city.
William Free, a Philadelphia architect designed the 'Elephantine Colossus' that looked out to sea. The land owner and developer, James Vincent de Paul Lafferty Jr. was granted a patent for animal shaped buildings in 1882. In 1885 after two years of construction, the Coney Island building was completed.
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'THE HUMORS OF CONEY ISLAND The great carpenter-made beast did not really, on the fourth of July, project himself in the manner indicated, but in fancy it is permissible to make him appear to have done so, as an expression of either patriotic exaltation on account of the day, or commercial delight because of the unusual number of people admitted into his interior at ten cents a head.' Harpers Weekly, July 16th 1887 |
Costing a quarter of a million dollars, the Elephantine Colossus stood 125 feet high and had 31 hotel rooms. At the base of one of her 60 foot circumference legs was a cigar store, another had a diorama. Visitors to the observatory had a great view of the ocean through slits in the elephant's eyes. A visit to the 'howdah' provided an all round vista for fifty miles.
On the 27th September 1896 the Elephant Hotel and the Shaw Channel Chute roller coaster (see the photograph below) that surrounded it caught fire and was burnt to the ground.. The extraordinary twelve year old, seven story high hotel had not been used for several years.
Lafferty had two other elephant hotels erected; the first was 'Lucy', whose original name is lost to history. She was erected in Margate (then called South Atlantic City) in 1881, and the second, 'Old Jumbo' in 1884, in South Cape May.
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Old
Jumbo, the "Light of Asia" was the smallest of the trio. Here,looking
a little forlorn in South Cape May. |
By 1900 poor Old Jumbo, having been finally used as an advertising hoarding had deteriorated beyond economic repair and was levelled.
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Lucy, still going strong on this postcard and below, two blocks away and after restoration. South Atlantic City N.J. is now called Margate, after an English seaside resort. |
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Photo courtesy of the Save |
In spite of storms and a hurricane, Jumbo's big sister Lucy however, is still triumphant, having been carefully restored over the last 30 years. Today, she's a popular tourist attraction in Margate. Offering fabulous views from her 'howdah' Lucy has fascinated us for over a hundred years and thanks to local support, will continue to do so long into the future.
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Lucy
and the Turkish Pavilion - the Elephant Hotel |
Anthony Gertzen purchased the Turkish Pavilion from the Centennial Exhibition, had it shipped and re-erected behind Lucy who they had bought along with adjoining lands from James Lafferty in 1887. The pavilion became the Elephant Hotel. It remained in the Gertzen family right up to the 1970s when it was sold to the City.
With reference to the Turkish Pavilion, this description from 'The illustrated history of the Centennial exhibition by James Dabney McCabe"...
'The Turkish Coffee House and Bazaar is located on the Avenue of the Republie, north of the Machinery Hall. It is a large and richly ornamented pavilion, with a dome-like roof surmounted by the crescent and the star, and with a wide portico deeply set in the sides of the building at the northern and southern ends. The sides are filled with long, pointed windows. The building is richly decorated in crimson, blue, and gold, and is exceedingly gaudy. Opening upon the porches are four small bazaars, in which a large stock of pipes, carpets, rich dresses, swords, daggers, jewelry, and other articles from the Turkish empire are sold.
The cafe occupies a large and well-lighted room in the centre of the building, like which it is octagonal in shape. Above is the ornamented dome-like ceiling, painted in Turkish colors and ornamented with Turkish designs. A luxurious divan or lounge runs around the sides of the room, and tables and chairs are scattered about. The high, breezy-looking windows are hung with heavy curtains handsomely embroidered. Pipes are here in abundance, and you may enjoy the happiest of smokes for a mere pittance.
Coffee is made and served here in the peculiar Turkish style, the cups being the most fragile shells of exquisite porcelain, placed in silver holders. At one corner of the room is a brazier with a charcoal fire in it. When a visitor orders coffee the attendant places a spoonful of sweetened ground coffee in a silver dipper about as large as the cup from which you are to drink, and then adds hot water. He places the dipper over the fire in the brazier and allows the mixture to come to a boil, and then turns it out, thick and as strong as brandy, into your cup. Turkish liquors and preserves are also sold here. The attendants are all Turks and dress in their native costume. The building is under the control of the Turkish Commission.'
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White
tie only - ladies are present. |
The French liked Lafferty's elephants so much that they built their own enormous elephant pavilion at the Universal Exhibition of 1889.
It was later moved to the Moulin Rouge where for a single franc gentlemen only could go up the staircase in one of the elephant's legs to see a different belly - that of a dancer. But the elephant was torn down when the Moulin Rouge was rebuilt in 1906.
None of the Elephant Hotels in the USA were a financial success but they did bring hoards of sightseers to their respective resorts.
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This comic illustration from Judge magazine of July 11th 1896 (author's collection). |
All photos and graphics of Lucy the Elephant are copyrighted by the Save Lucy Committee, Inc. and are used here with permission. All rights are reserved. Any other use including copying, posting or printing without the prior permission of the Save Lucy Committee is strictly prohibited.
