I'm seeing pink elephants...

On our way to Chicago we stopped at an exit just south of the Kentucky state line in a little town called Cross Plains, TN. There, across from Sad Sam's fireworks, was a dilapidated antique mall with a large fiberglass pink elephant next to it. The elephant was holding a martini. 

In my internet travels yesterday, I came across talk of another one in Cookeville, TN. This one was painted with a bikini and sunglasses. I felt the need to Google search this topic now. 

Since then, I've come up with one in Kentucky, at least two in Tennessee and Wisconsin, one in Virginia, one in Georgia, and four or five more scattered across the country. What struck me as odd, is apparently this one in Cross Plains used to have glasses. Most all of these others brought to me by Google are wearing glasses and some are also holding martinis. 

At least two that I know of are located outside antique stores. This leads me to believe that perhaps some chain of something or other used to have these outside (kind of the like the Big Boy) and now they have been sold off to random people, some making their way to the antiques circuit. I figure the one that was repainted was sold to someone who did not value it as an antique but saw it as useful for their particular business. 

It is now my quest to research these pink elephants. I want to find where they came from, what they used to represent, and where they all are now. 

Then...

I want to go see them!