
ELEPHANT CAR WASH
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Year Built: 1956
Artist Name: BEATRICE "BEA" HAVERFIELD
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Fun Fact: There are 4 little elephants that grace the base of the design, one for each of Bea's children.
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Medium: Neon, Metal
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Neighborhood: Belltown
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Address: 616 Battery St, Seattle, WA 98121
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The Elephant Super Car Wash sign features bent neon and 380 blinking lights and was designed by Beatrice "Bea" Haverfield of Seattle. Beatrice and her husband Elden "Cap" Fisler are credited with starting Seattle's first neon sign company; Beatrice sketched up the signs and "Cap" built them. Their business was interrupted by World War 2, during which Cap served in the Navy and Beatrice worked at an aviation factory at Boeing Field. After the war they merged their company with Campbell Neon, Seattle's biggest sign company, where Beatrice became head designer. Beatrice designed the neon signs for Dick's Burgers, Ivars, Chubby & Tubby's, The Georgetown Hat and Boot, the Cinerama. The lettering on the signs featured Bea's own meticulous handwriting. Some of her sketches can be seen on Brad Holden's Instagram account "seattle_artifacts" here, here, and here.
PRESENTED BY OUR SPONSOR:
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"Simply put, the Pink Elephant Car Wash Sign is an icon in the Seattle Skyline… and we just love how this beacon of the cult of the clean car somehow symbolizes both the optimism of the future and the nostalgia of the past."
- JORDAN GATES, ABSOLUTE RESOURCE LLC
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