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Elephant Hotel, Atlantic City Matchsafe
This is a Matchsafe. It is dated 1900–10 and we acquired it in 1980. Its medium is plated metal, printed celluloid. It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.
The World's Greatest Elephant
This unique matchsafe is a keepsake from the early 1900s, celebrating Lucy the Margate Elephant, a landmark of South Atlantic City, New Jersey (now called Margate).
Portable matchsafes were used to protect wooden matches from moisture or combustion, and served as mementos or conversation-starting trinkets that often made a statement about their owner. This particular piece commemorates a trip to the seaside to South Atlantic City, and a trip to see Lucy, “The World’s Greatest Elephant.”
Built in 1881 and patented in 1882 by her creator, James Lafferty, Lucy is a 65-foot-high wooden building in the shape of an elephant, divided into rooms and accessible by stairs housed in the legs. This odd tourist attraction must have provided excellent fodder for the souvenir market!
It turns out that Lucy is actually one of three such structures built by Lafferty, but she is the only one left, after a fire destroyed the Coney Island elephant and the Cape May elephant was torn down.
This matchsafe is a reminder of Atlantic City before the devastation of Superstorm Sandy in October 2012, before the casinos and resorts we think of now, when the main attraction was a massive wooden elephant.
This object was featured in our Object of the Week series in a post titled The World's Greatest Elephant.
This object was
donated by
Stephen W. Brener and Carol B. Brener.
It is credited Gift of Stephen W. Brener and Carol B. Brener.
Its dimensions are
3.7 x 6.7 x 1 cm (1 7/16 x 2 5/8 x 3/8 in. )
It has the following markings
No marks
It is inscribed
"Elephant Hotel, Atlantic City, N.J." "Hotel Shelburne, Atlantic City, N.J."
Cite this object as
Elephant Hotel, Atlantic City Matchsafe; USA; plated metal, printed celluloid; 3.7 x 6.7 x 1 cm (1 7/16 x 2 5/8 x 3/8 in. ); Gift of Stephen W. Brener and Carol B. Brener; 1980-14-1351
