Republican Elephant Gifts

	When it comes to waving the red, white and blue for the faithful Republicans you know, there are literally trunks full of Republican elephant gifts. But how did the patriotic pachyderm come to represent one of America’s two major political parties? Way back in the latter part of the 19th century, there was a convergence of two totally unrelated stories, carried by the New York Herald. The first had to do with the rumored possibility that Ulysses S. Grant would run for a third term, even though he was only mid-way through his second, in 1874. This dismayed even his own party, the Republicans, who began to take the charges of “Caesarism”, seriously. Even if they were made by the Democrats.

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Republican Elephant Gifts

At the same time, the Herald was running a hoax story, about how all the animals had escaped from the New York zoo, and were running rampant in Central Park, looking for prey.

Never one to pass up an inspiration, cartoonist Thomas Nast drew an illustration for Harper’s Weekly that showed an Ass, wearing a lion skin, scaring a big elephant. The caption underneath alluded to how the Ass had put on the lion skin and was wandering at large, scaring foolish animals. The skin represented Grant’s perceived Caesarism, and the Ass was the Herald newspaper itself, who had started the false story which actually had people running scared for no reason.

When he repeated the elephant theme in a second illustration after the election, the association between the party who had been foolishly scared away from their allegiance, was forever twinned with the big, gray animal.

Republican elephant gifts today, are anything but gray. They’re just what you’d expect for a dyed in the elephant skin Republican – red, white, and blue in a myriad of combinations.

Choose from a porcelain elephant figurine with trunk upraised and ready to charge across a desk, or a patchwork elephant figurine in a whimsical seated pose. Both have the same delightful patchwork pattern of polka dots, gingham and stripes in red, white and blue, proof positive of a party member’s patriotic fervor.

Or go for the massive majesty of a Republican elephant figurine in the stars and stripes of Old Glory. Smaller versions can be had in the miniature patriotic elephant figurine, just the right size for a curio cabinet or wall shelf.

The Grand Old Party, thought to have coined the phrase from England, whose prime minister was referred to as the Grand Old Man, has come a long way since its founding in 1854. Even its name, shortened to G.O.P. has been toyed with throughout the years, and morphed into “Generation of Peace” during the Nixon years. But the party and its members march on! Celebrate someone’s allegiance with Republican elephant gifts that will trumpet their good political tastes.