Seeing “pink elephants” is a euphemism for drunken hallucinations—but people driving down Highway 111 through Rancho Mirage have been seeing a pink elephant for decades, without having touched a drop.
The pachyderm in question is the iconic sign for the Elephant Car Wash, at 71490 Highway 111, which for 60 years has been a tourist-photo magnet. However, the sign—originally designed by Beatrice Haverfield, known as the “Queen of Neon”—has been starting to show its age, and is now the subject of a restoration effort.
“The color is fading. It’s peeling off; there are holes in it; the facade is not watertight,” said Nathan Jacroux, treasurer of the nonprofit group Preservation Mirage. “It will be restored to its original bright pink color, which we tracked down, and neon tubing. We need to raise approximately $40,000.”
The restoration work has started, using Preservation Mirage’s reserves. The organization will join the city of Rancho Mirage to present “Party With the Pink Elephant,” a fundraising event on Saturday, Feb. 3, at the Rancho Mirage Amphitheater.
Why, one might ask, should a sign for a private business, however quirky, be saved in such a manner?
“Rancho Mirage has the pink elephant, the most visible midcentury sign and building on the highway,” said Melissa Riche, founder and past president of Preservation Mirage and the author of Mod Mirage, a book on midcentury architecture in the area. “(Highway 111) used to be the main route between Palm Springs and Palm Desert, and this sign was much loved by lovers of vintage and midcentury architecture.”
Riche said she grew up in a 17th-century house in the United Kingdom and was taken by her parents to “every historic home and cathedral in Europe” as a child, so she was shocked to see Art Deco buildings from the 1930s being torn down.
“In California—most of the U.S., actually—because everything is relatively new, people don’t understand the value of great architecture,” she said. “They tear down things, and they can’t put them back again.”
Following her return from England after the COVID-19 shutdowns, Riche had the idea to restore the sign.
“When I came back, I wondered what I could do and what people would enjoy. The pink elephant sign popped up in my mind,” she said. “The pink elephant is so much a part of Rancho Mirage’s history. Besides, if everything looks the same, it’s boring. History makes things around you more interesting. It’s fun and makes people smile.
The sign now in Rancho Mirage was originally built in Seattle for a car wash in Portland, but it was moved to Southern California in 1966 by the Rancho Mirage car wash’s builders, Richard Fromme and his wife, Marilyn.
“The story of Palm Springs has been told in many books. But the story of Rancho Mirage hadn’t been told, and it’s quite different from Palm Springs. It grew out of an early subdivision … near the current site of the Pink Elephant Car Wash. Then the success of Thunderbird and Tamarisk country clubs in the 1950s encouraged developers to build more homes. That’s the story of the city of Rancho Mirage.”
According to Preservation Mirage, the Anderson family built five car washes in Washington state in the 1950s, each featuring the pink-elephant sign. The sign now in Rancho Mirage was originally built in Seattle for a car wash in Portland, but it was moved to Southern California in 1966 by the Rancho Mirage car wash’s builders, Richard Fromme and his wife, Marilyn—who was a member of the Anderson family. The city of Rancho Mirage awarded the sign with historic designation last September.
Randy Barnes, who bought the car wash in 2008 with his wife, Lorraine, said the sign represents Rancho Mirage unlike anything else.
“The sign is nostalgic,” he said. “It reminds people of happy days and puts a smile on faces of all ages. It’s such a landmark for Rancho Mirage and the Coachella Valley.”
“Party With the Pink Elephant,” featuring performances by the Rancho Mirage High School Band, Desert Theatricals and DJ Modgirl, takes place at 5 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 3, at the Rancho Mirage Amphitheater, 71560 San Jacinto Drive, in Rancho Mirage. General admission tickets are $20. Food and drink from Willie’s, including a full bar, are available for purchase. For tickets or more information about the pink elephant restoration, visit www.preservationmirage.org/pink-elephant.
Sooo happy that this important vintage sign is being restored. It is very special.