Coney Island Elephants #4

Coney Island Elephants-4, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. The Coney Island showmen who did as much as anyone to bring elephants to Coney Island were Elmer “Skip” Dundy and Fred Thompson, the original owners of Luna Park. Reportedly, when Luna Park was being built, a leg from the old elephant hotel was found on the grounds. Dundy and Thompson took this as a good omen and thereafter had a great devotion to elephants. (When they built the Hippodrome Theater in 1904, they lined the walls of the promenades and auditorium with marble elephant heads.)