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Brenham Daily Banner. (Brenham, Tex.), Vol. 17, No. 229, Ed. 1 Sunday, December 25, 1892; (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth483328/ : accessed April 18, 2016), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; |
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Aisha Tyler stands in front of the Hugh B. Hancock House in Austin, Texas |
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The TLC show uses academic experts to reveal documents and facts about ancestors. |
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Aisha Tyler discovers that her ancestor owned the Black Elephant Saloon as shown here in the Austin City Directory. |
As I scrolled down the list, there was newspaper evidence of Black Elephant saloons in Brenham, Austin, San Antonio, Fort Worth, El Paso and Houston. Even Fulda and Hunter had businesses with the name Black Elephant. There were so many "Black Elephants" that it seemed that someone had developed a franchise for the "brand."
A Google search revealed that the material culture from these saloons are valuable and rare. The "Black Elephant" collectibles included an old bottle, a trade token and a letter.
Here are some of the articles and images that I found that referenced Black Elephant:
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The Sunday Gazetteer. (Denison, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 38, Ed. 1 Sunday, January 13, 1884, Sequence: 1 | The Portal to Texas History |
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The San Antonio bartender opened fire with a derringer. The Houston Post. (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 29, No. 327, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 24, 1915, Sequence: 4 | The Portal to Texas History |
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The Black Elephant hotel in Fulda, Texas is mentioned here. The Seymour News (Seymour, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 24, Ed. 1 Friday, April 27, 1900, Sequence: 4 | The Portal to Texas History |
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This old bottle from the Black Elephant in San Antonio was described as a "picnic flask." http://www.antique-bottles.net/showthread.php?686221-Black-Elephant-Saloon-picnic-flask-from-Texas |
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This token collector offered an extensive provenance with his Ft. Worth trade token.http://tokencatalog.com |
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Letterhead from the "Black Elephant Saloon" in San Antonio, Texas. Dated October 26, 1893. |
The letterhead shows P. Magadieu as Proprietor. Dealer in Wines, Liquors and Cigars; "Old Kentucky Bourbon Whisky a Specialty". The saloon was located at 137 South Flores, corner West Nueva, one block south of Military Plaza. The letter is signed by Paul Magadieu, the Proprietor of the saloon. The letter is written in the French language which indicates that the proprietor of this saloon was white. Did he cater to African Americans?
The auction site also listed the following:
Condition: Very Good
http://collectibles.bidstart.com/1893-Letterhead-Black-Elephant-Saloon-San-Antonio-Texas-/16748408/a.html
BIN Price $30.00
Time Left: Closed Sun Dec-19-2010
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Here is another newspaper article that references the term "black elephant" as a metaphor for black suffrage and the black political office holders that resulted in Washington, D.C.
It would be interesting to find out if African American saloons in other states besides Texas used the name "Black Elephant." The Oklahoma newspaper site shows the term used in several articles in Guthrie, Oklahoma.
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Guthrie Daily Leader. (Guthrie, Okla.), Vol. 15, No. 98, Ed. 1, Tuesday, March 27, 1900, Sequence: 8 | The Gateway to Oklahoma History |
The terminology in this article leads me to believe that there may have been a trade sign with an elephant symbol in front of the "Black Elephant" in Guthrie.
The bottom line is that many businesses in at least two states were known as the "Black Elephant." The saloon in Fort Worth was established in 1885 by West Mayweather, a black saloon keeper. He opened the Black Elephant on the opposite end of Main Street from the White Elephant which was founded a year earlier. Richard Selcer on page 276 of his book "A History of Fort Worth in Black & White," states that "whites could patronize the Black Elephant but never vice versa." Much more needs to be written about the history of these early businesses in the African American communities.
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