Welcome

Our thanks to Michael McCormick for allowing us the use of his paper.

Visit:
Lucy the Elephant, the official site

Lucy today, from the official site of Lucy the Elephant

Lucy in 1895
photographer unknown, Library of Congress records

Lucy, postcard view

1969 before restoration. Photo by Jack Boucher for Historic American Buildings Survey, National Parks Service, Dept of Interior. Library of Congress collection.

1969 before restoration. Photo by Jack Boucher for Historic American Buildings Survey, National Parks Service, Dept of Interior. Library of Congress collection.

Lucy restored. Photographer unkown.

Lucy's toes.
Photo courtesy Mike McCormick

Margate Water Tower.
Photo courtesy Mike McCormick

Ticket stub. Courtesy Mike McCormick.

The Elephant

By Michael McCormick

While much of the populace of the United States views the Jersey shore as little more than a place where underage kids can drink cheap booze, used medical needles wash upon the beaches, or as the home of Donald Trump’s hair, the region offers so much more. For example, the Jersey shore is home to an astounding array of architecture. Majestic lighthouses dot the shore from the Delaware Bay to Sandy Hook, among them some of the tallest in the nation. Old, stately hotels and homes line the streets of Cape May, massive casinos crowd the beachfront of Atlantic City, and decaying amusement buildings mark Asbury Park. Yet one building above all others seems to capture the imagination of those down the shore, whether they are visitors or residents. That building is the larger-than-life Lucy the Elephant building of Margate, New Jersey.

As a young child, I spent many days down the shore with my family. My parents, like their parents before them, took my brother and me down to see Lucy. At the time, Lucy was undergoing renovation and was not open to the public. As I grew older, I visited Lucy many more times during stayovers with friends in the area or as the eventual stopping point of night trips down the shore. On the sunny day of August 24th , 2003, I was even able to proudly proclaim to all that would listen that I, Michael McCormick, had walked through an elephant!

The history of Lucy occupies a much longer time period than one young man’s fascination with her, indeed is much longer time period than many people realize! It all began in those early days of land speculation at the Jersey shore. Atlantic City was in the early stages of its vacation destination status. Just to the south, separated by a small stretch of water lay an area of Egg Harbor Township known as South Atlantic City. This area was all but barren, covered only by a few small shacks and the many native species of the area. A twenty-five year old Philadelphia man by the name of James Vincent de Paul Lafferty, Jr. owned many small plots of land in this area. To help sell these plots of land, Lafferty needed something that would attract potential buyers, something that would set the area apart from the many other areas of the shore being developed at the time. He hit upon an idea that was both ingenious and insane; Lafferty would construct a massive wooden building in the form of an elephant. In short order, Lafferty had architect William Free of Philadelphia design his strange building. By 1881, the elephant building was completed at the cost of $25,000, although it was always claimed that the project cost closer to $38,000. The design was patented the next year (McMahon 4-5). The elephant building was quite successful in drawing interest to the area, as people descended upon South Atlantic City to view the gigantic elephant. Within a few short years, two more elephant buildings were constructed based on the design of Lafferty’s. One was located in South Cape May, New Jersey and one at Coney Island, New York, neither of which remained standing more than fifteen years (McMahon 12-13). By 1887, Lafferty was tapped out monetarily and had to sell his elephant and land holdings in the newly independent City of South Atlantic City to Anton Gertzen of Philadelphia (McMahon 5).

Anton, who had his name legally changed to Anthony, amassed quite sizable land holdings in the new city, and eventually moved the family there and started a fishing-boat business (McMahon 7). The Gertzens played an important role in South Atlantic City, which was renamed Margate in 1909, for many years, running hotels, fishing businesses, and serving in the local government, including Henry Gertzen who was the city mayor for close to two decades. The family also played a vital role in the history of the elephant building, which they owned for over eighty years. John Gertzen opened the elephant for tours in 1901, charging at the rate of ten cents per person (McMahon 11). Sophie Gertzen, John’s wife, is credited with giving the elephant her name, Lucy, although history has not preserved the reasoning behind this particular name being chosen (McMahon 16). Indeed, according to the tour guide, poor Lucy is gender confused, as only male elephants have tusks.

Despite her fanciful name, Lucy went through some wild times in those days. She was converted into a summer home in the early 20th century. 1903 saw her lower portions buried by sand during a ferocious storm, but volunteers moved her back away from the unforgiving ocean. She was converted to a tavern for a time, but was nearly destroyed by fire as a result of the drunken antics of her patrons (McMahon 16). When John died in 1916, Sophie was able to support her family through admission fees and several other business ventures connected with Lucy. A raging storm in 1929 ripped off Lucy’s howdah, or riding carriage. A vicious hurricane battered Lucy in 1944, leaving her standing but demolishing the Margate boardwalk that stood at her feet. The Gertzen family continued to operate Lucy as a tourist attraction until 1969. At this time, the Gertzens donated Lucy to the City of Margate. Unfortunately, the land on under which she stood was sold by the family to developers. Lucy was not in very good shape, and the land on which she stood was owned by a group that wished to build upon the land. The attorneys for the new owners presented a thirty day deadline to remove Lucy, or else she would be destroyed. The situation did not look good (McMahon 18).

Then, as so often happens in times of need, people stepped up to meet the challenge. The newly formed Margate Civic Association approached the city government about moving Lucy to a piece of parkland located a few blocks south. The city agreed to the plan, and thus, the Save Lucy Committee was formed. Moving quickly, house movers Mullen and Ranalli reinforced the structure for its journey of two blocks. A local contractor built a new foundation. Fundraisers by local residents and school children brought in thousands of dollars. Despite such Herculean efforts, the Committee was nearly $10,000 short with time running out. An anonymous donor signed a personal note for the sum, and Lucy was ready for her parade down Atlantic Avenue (McMahon 22-23).

A last minute legal injunction, which claimed that Lucy would hurt property values, with a court hearing set the day after the thirty day deadline on moving Lucy nearly sabotaged the whole effort. However, a special Saturday court session found the claims baseless. Like men possessed, workers labored all of Saturday night into Sunday morning. On the morning of July 20, 1970, at nine o’clock, Lucy rolled over the curb and began her saunter down the roadway, guided only by a yellow pickup truck. Seven hours later, she was secured at her new home (McMahon 24-25).

Lucy was now ready for her restoration. Despite the job being turned down by numerous contractors as impossible, a committed group of local and national experts began work in 1973. Steel beams were used to stabilize the beast, as the original wooden trusses had deteriorated. In 1975, Irenee du Pont of the famous industrial family donated a fire system after touring Lucy and seeing the names of several family members in a 1916 visitors book (McMahon 30). Lucy, who is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the surrounding park continue to be renovated and improved. It was recently announced that the gift shop will be greatly expanded to include a handicapped accessible museum area that will offer a virtual tour for those who cannot go inside of Lucy (Conforti).

I embarked upon my journey to Lucy on a lovely fall day in late October. I quickly traveled down the Atlantic City Expressway and was soon in Margate. Traveling down Atlantic Avenue, Lucy was not difficult to spot, and I was soon standing at the corners of Atlantic Avenue and Decatur Street, taking in her majesty. While elephants themselves are massive, Lucy dwarfs them all. Including her riding carriage, she is six stories high, with her body thirty-eight feet long end to end (McMahon 19). Lucy is a member of a very small grouping of buildings known as zoomorphic architecture. In fact, she is the only true example of this form of architecture in the entire United States of America (Conforti). Despite being one hundred and twenty-three years old, Lucy is in excellent condition thanks to the efforts of the Save Lucy Committee.
The original design for Lucy called for simple enough materials, an interior constructed of wood and an exterior of plates of tin. However, architecture of this sort had never been attempted, and a structure of Lucy’s size is quite a daring project to break new ground on. Each ear alone weight one ton (McMahon 19)! Altogether, she weighs an estimated ninety tons (Kirby 1). The only material being used for construction was wood, not iron, steel, or concrete, which made construction matters considerably more difficult. Viewing the original patent application submitted by Lafferty as well as blueprints drawn up for Lucy’s application for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, one can see the genius of construction. The levels of Lucy can be divided into three levels, the lower level of the body, the upper level of the body, and the howdah.

The lower level of Lucy consists of her legs and trunk, which consist of the support structure for the building. The majority of the weight of the structure is distributed to the four legs, which support the weight of the body. These legs themselves are not solid, but hollow, each with a myriad of posts positioned around the circumference of the leg. These posts support nearly the entire weight of the structure, although restoration of Lucy saw the addition of centrally located beams in each leg to help support the massive load. The hollowness of these legs was not for structural reasons, but to allow use of these legs as part of the function of the overall building. The back legs contain the spiral staircases used to access the belly rooms of Lucy. The front legs have been used in the past to sell refreshments, but currently are unused. Originally the legs were of the same tin-coated wood construction as the rest of the body, but they have undergone several changes. Around 1903, the wooden feet were replaced by concrete ones, which were later reused after Lucy’s move. During the restoration, the structure of the legs went from only wood to both wood and steel. In addition to the four legs, the trunk serves to act as a support as well, largely for the head. The trunk’s arch redesign allows it to act in the same capacity as a flying buttress on the Gothic cathedrals of old (Conforti).

The upper level of Lucy is the majority of her body, consisting of her head, her stomach, and her rear. The frame of the body starts rests upon horizontal posts running between each of the legs. In addition, a trapezoid of beams creates the form of the head. This trapezoid begins at the front legs and ends at the top of the trunk. This frame was originally constructed of wood, but was replaced by steel beams during the renovations in the early 1970s. From this simple frame rise ribbed arches, 8,560 of them, that form the frame for the walls (McMahon 19). The large amount of arches are necessary to support the heavy tin plates that form Lucy’s skin. The interior of Lucy was split up into different areas. In the area of Lucy’s butt were the stairwells ascending from the ground. This led to the main room, which took up the entire central area of Lucy. This main room was divided by a stairwell the ascended into the head. At the shoulders and front of the heads were much smaller rooms that have served as closets in past. Today, they hold artifacts from Lucy’s past, including the original tongue and assortments of pictures. On the sides, between Lucy’s legs, are the stairwells leading up to the howdah. At various intervals along the exterior walls are small windows allowing a view of the outside world, including two windows for Lucy’s eyes. The interior Lucy has been redone in the style of the original. This calls for walls of curving pink plaster that crest where Lucy’s backbone would be. This color gives the impression that you are actually standing in the interior of a large, living creature (Conforti)!

The third and final level of Lucy is the howdah. A howdah was a riding carriage used by the royalty of India. For Lucy, the howdah is an observation deck allowing a magnificent view of the ocean, Atlantic City, Margate, and the surrounding area. Originally, the howdah was an ornate piece of woodwork sitting upon Lucy’s back. However, a severe storm ripped that piece of ornament from the building in 1923. The replacement was of the same wood and tin plate construction as the rest of the building, and much less ornate. The howdah is slightly larger than 16 feet by 16 feet square. In the center of the flooring of the howdah are sixteen glass pieces set in a wooden frame, measuring seven and half feet by seven and half feet. This allows a good amount of light to enter the building, as well as viewers the opportunity to look into the belly of the beast. The howdah is ringed by a protective railing and covered by an ornamental roof (Conforti).

Overall, Lucy the Elephant is a remarkable piece of Victorian era, Gothic revival architecture (Conforti). Considering not just her usefulness as a building, but also as the carefully built recreation of an elephant, Lucy might be considered as sculpture as well as architecture! Certainly beyond the artistic or architectural nature of her form, Lucy has a deeper meaning to the inhabitants of Margate as the symbol of their very town. Lucy the Elephant was there before any other building in this seashore town, and with the continued support of those who admire her, she will be there for years to come. As I viewed this majestic creature staring out over the Atlantic Ocean, I was forced to reflect deeply upon all that Lucy has been through and all that she will see. Also, where do they hide the giant peanuts that they feed her at night?

Bibliography

Boucher, Jack E. Absegami Yesteryear. Egg Harbor City, New Jersey: Atlantic County Historical Society, 1963.

Conforti, Doug. The Official Site of Lucy the Elephant, Margate, NJ. The Save Lucy Committee, Inc. October 31, 2004. <http://www.lucytheelephant.org>.

Kirby, Doug, Ken Smith, and Mike Wilkins. Lucy the Elephant. June 2003. Roadside America. October 31, 2004. <http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/NJMARlucy2.html>.

McMahon, William. The Story of Lucy the Elephant. Egg Harbor City, New Jersey: The Save Lucy Committee Inc, 1988.

The following drawings are courtesy Library of Congress online collection: