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James V. Lafferty
James Vincent de Paul Lafferty, Jr. (1856–1898) was an American inventor, most famous for his construction of Lucy the Elephant, the Elephantine Colossus and The Light of Asia (also known as "Old Dumbo"). Born to Irish parents in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he received Patent Number 268503, on December 5, 1882 to protect his original invention, as well as any animal-shaped building. Broke by 1887, Lafferty was forced to sell Lucy (originally named "Elephant Bazaar"). He died in 1898 and is buried in the cemetery of St. Augustine's Catholic Church in Philadelphia. See also * Charles Ribart, American architect who designed a similar elephant-shaped building *Zoomorphic architecture Zoomorphic architecture is the practice of using animal forms as the inspirational basis and blueprint for architectural design. "While animal forms have always played a role adding some of the deepest layers of meaning in architecture, it is now ... References External links Official 'Lucy' web ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucy The Elephant
Lucy the Elephant is a six-story elephant-shaped wood frame and tin clad building, constructed in 1882 by James V. Lafferty in Margate City, New Jersey, Margate City, New Jersey. Lucy was built with the purpose of promoting real estate sales and attracting tourists to the area. Today, Lucy remains the oldest surviving roadside attraction, roadside tourist attraction in America. History 1882–1899 Patenting and construction On December 5, 1882, the U.S. Patent Office granted James V. Lafferty Patent #268503, giving him the exclusive right to make, use or sell an "Zoomorphism, animal-shaped building" for a duration of seventeen years. Lafferty funded the design and construction of Lucy at South Atlantic City, now called Margate City, New Jersey, Margate. He employed Philadelphia architects William Free and J. Mason Kirby for the design of this example of novelty architecture . Lucy was modeled after Jumbo, the famous elephant with ''Barnum and Bailey's, Barnum and Bailey's G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elephantine Colossus
The Elephantine Colossus (also known as the Colossal Elephant or the Elephant Colossus, or by its function as the Elephant Hotel) was a tourist attraction located on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York City. It was built in the shape of an elephant, an example of novelty architecture. The seven-story structure designed by James V. Lafferty stood above Surf Avenue and West 12th Street from 1885 until 1896, when it burnt down in a fire. During its lifespan, the thirty-one room building acted as a concert hall and amusement bazaar. It was the second of three elephant buildings built by Lafferty, preceded by the extant Lucy the Elephant (former ''Elephant Bazaar'') near Atlantic City and followed by Lucy the Elephant#Light of Asia (1884–1900), ''The Light of Asia'' in Cape May. Size At tall, the Coney Island Elephant was approximately twice the dimensions of Lucy the Elephant, which had pre-dated it by four years; with the exception of the designs of their respective howdahs and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 1,603,797 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is the urban core of the Philadelphia metropolitan area (sometimes called the Delaware Valley), the nation's Metropolitan statistical area, seventh-largest metropolitan area and ninth-largest combined statistical area with 6.245 million residents and 7.379 million residents, respectively. Philadelphia was founded in 1682 by William Penn, an English Americans, English Quakers, Quaker and advocate of Freedom of religion, religious freedom, and served as the capital of the Colonial history of the United States, colonial era Province of Pennsylvania. It then played a historic and vital role during the American Revolution and American Revolutionary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Ribart
François-Joseph Ribart de Chamoust (''fl.'' 1776–1783) was an 18th-century French architect and architectural writer. His first names are unsure but are likely to be François-Joseph, though he has also been called Charles François. Architectural career In 1758, Ribart planned an addition to the Champs-Élysées in Paris, to be constructed where the Arc de Triomphe now stands. It consisted of three levels, to be built in the shape of an elephant, with entry via a spiral staircase in the underbelly. The building was to have a form of air conditioning, and furniture that folded into the walls. A drainage system was to be incorporated into the elephant's trunk. The French Government, however, was not amused and turned him down. Napoleon would later conceive a similar construction, the Elephant of the Bastille. Little of his work now survives. Notes See also *James V. Lafferty, American architect who built 3 similar elephant-shaped buildings *Elephant of the Bastille, a Napole ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zoomorphic Architecture
Zoomorphic architecture is the practice of using animal forms as the inspirational basis and blueprint for architectural design. "While animal forms have always played a role adding some of the deepest layers of meaning in architecture, it is now becoming evident that a new strand of biomorphism is emerging where the meaning derives not from any specific representation but from a more general allusion to biological processes." The practice is said by some to be a reaction against some of the modern schools of architecture, such as Modernism and their apparent opposition to nature and organic form. Commenting on the movement away from these rigid and artificial design trends, Susannah Hagan, in her book ''Taking Shape'', has this to say: "The oppositions between culture and nature, so importantly and brutally drawn up by modernism, are dissolving again, not in a return to what was, but a transformation of it...The division between the living organism and the machine continues to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1856 Births
Events January–March * January 8 – Borax deposits are discovered in large quantities by John Veatch in California. * January 23 – The American sidewheel steamer SS ''Pacific'' leaves Liverpool (England) for a transatlantic voyage on which she will be lost with all 186 on board. * January 24 – U.S. President Franklin Pierce declares the new Free-State Topeka government in " Bleeding Kansas" to be in rebellion. * January 26 – First Battle of Seattle: Marines from the suppress an indigenous uprising, in response to Governor Stevens' declaration of a "war of extermination" on Native communities. * January 29 ** The 223-mile North Carolina Railroad is completed from Goldsboro through Raleigh and Salisbury to Charlotte. ** Queen Victoria institutes the Victoria Cross as a British military decoration. * February ** The Tintic War breaks out in Utah. ** The National Dress Reform Association is founded in the United States to promote "r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1898 Deaths
Events January * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Staten Island. * January 13 – Novelist Émile Zola's open letter to the President of the French Republic on the Dreyfus affair, , is published on the front page of the Paris daily newspaper , accusing the government of wrongfully imprisoning Alfred Dreyfus and of antisemitism. February * February 12 – The automobile belonging to Henry Lindfield of Brighton rolls out of control down a hill in Purley, London, England, and hits a tree; thus he becomes the world's first fatality from an automobile accident on a public highway. * February 15 – Spanish–American War: The explodes and sinks in Havana Harbor, Cuba, for reasons never fully established, killing 266 men. The event precipitates the United States' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
19th-century American Inventors
The 19th century began on 1 January 1801 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 (MCM). It was the 9th century of the 2nd millennium. It was characterized by vast social upheaval. Slavery was abolished in much of Europe and the Americas. The First Industrial Revolution, though it began in the late 18th century, expanded beyond its British homeland for the first time during the 19th century, particularly remaking the economies and societies of the Low Countries, France, the Rhineland, Northern Italy, and the Northeastern United States. A few decades later, the Second Industrial Revolution led to ever more massive urbanization and much higher levels of productivity, profit, and prosperity, a pattern that continued into the 20th century. The Catholic Church, in response to the growing influence and power of modernism, secularism and materialism, formed the First Vatican Council in the late 19th century to deal with such problems and confirm ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
