Pinky the Elephant
Marquette, Iowa
Bleary-eyed Pinky, her top hat askew, formerly stood in front of the Pink Elephant Supper Club; we have a photo from the early 1980s. Now she stands outside of the Lady Luck (formerly Isle of Capri) Casino, and is a much-loved (if now out-of-context) civic symbol, freshly waxed and shining in the sunlight.
Built by promotional wizard Bob Reis in 1963, Pinky's moment of great glory came in August 1978, when Reis somehow made her water-ski on the Mississippi River to honor a visiting President Carter.