Seattle, Washington -
Flower Shop Elephant

Flower Shop Elephant

Locals claimed the Aurora Flower Shop sign elephant was real, dead, and rotting. The flower business is gone, but the statue was recently restored. Roadsideamerica.com Report...

Flower Shop Elephant

The Flower Shop Elephant was restored yesterday (November 2, 2009) to its rightful position. It cost over $10,000 to restore the cement elephant and its wooden howdah. For more info see the article in the Seattle Times of November 3, 2009. [John Brinley, 11/03/2009]

[RA: The 18-ft. long, 9,500 lb. statue has been repaired, including the installation of screens to keep pigeons out of the belly and howdah. It's back up on the elevated frame so it can look out over Aurora Avenue.]

Flower Shop Elephant

The Flower Shop Elephant has been restored to its former glory. Actually it may have been restored to better than its former glory. The elephant has yet to be replaced on the top of its sign, but that will happen within the next few months according to the individual I spoke with at Aurora Rents, which now owns the elephant. "The sign company has been here and done all of the measurements and they are now fabricating a support framework." I was told. [Doug Lidz, 08/20/2009]

Flower Shop Elephant

Unfortunately, the Aurora Flower Shop is no more. They may have been out of business for more than a year. The sign below the elephant is hard to make out, as some of the letters have fallen, I believe it reads "be the next to own the elephant." [Mark, 03/15/2006]

Real Dead Elephant

The elephant over the Aurora Flowers florist is a real elephant, so local residents tell me. Originally shot by the first owner, he had it stuffed. Unfortunately, mounting it on a sign on Hwy 99 in Seattle was bad plan, because Mr. Elephant began to rot. So he had it varnished. That too, did not last, as pigeons made a home in the rotting-out belly, stuffed with excelsior. When that failed, he had it first stuccoed and then covered in concrete. The tusks were stolen at some point, and replaced with fakes. Mr. Elephant is still there, on Aurora/Hwy 99, with plenty of pigeons living in the open belly cavity. Both fascinating, and gross, if the story is true. Not sure who you'd ask to verify it. [James Hopkins & David Emery, 12/06/1999]