Carl Fisher and His Elephants

By Sigur Whitaker
 
In the 1920s, Carl Fisher used elephants in the development and the promotion of Miami Beach. Ed Ballard, a fellow Hoosier, gave him the first elephant as thanks for a trip to one of Fisher’s Miami Beach hotels. Ballard was the owner of six circuses including the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, one of the largest traveling circuses in the country, competing with Barnum & Bailey and Ringling Brothers. The two-year old elephant arrived in Miami Beach on February 3, 1921, and  was named Carl II after Fisher.
 
Shortly after being gifted the elephant Carl II, Fisher bought a harness for him. Later, a cart was attached to the harness so that he could help in the construction of Miami Beach by hauling topsoil and other materials. The elephants were used to help in the landscaping of the resort. They helped to pull mangrove stumps and lifted cinder blocks.  There are pictures of elephants working including pulling a heavy roller to level out the earth for the polo grounds.
 
When Fisher got Carl II, he claimed that he would “get a million dollars worth of advertising out of this elephant.” Whether or not Carl II could be credited with a million dollars worth of advertising is unknown, but what is known is that Fisher successfully promoted Miami Beach through photos of elephants carried by newspapers and magazines throughout the United States.
 
After being elected President of the United States in November 1920, Warren G. Harding wanted to relax in a warm climate before his inauguration. When word got out of his planned visit, Fisher immediately saw this as a perfect opportunity to promote Miami Beach and extended an offer for Harding to stay for free in a suite of rooms at the Flamingo Hotel which was then under construction. Harding wanted something more private so that he would not be followed by reporters and crowds. Plans were made for him to stay on a houseboat in south Florida. When he arrived in Miami a day early, the accommodation was not ready. Fisher seized the opportunity and soon Harding had crossed the bridge to Miami Beach and stayed in a cottage at the Flamingo Hotel. Harding enjoyed playing golf while in Miami Beach and Carl II was featured carrying his golf clubs in newspapers throughout the United States.
 
In March 1921, Carl II was involved in the making of the motion picture “The Lotus Eater.” In a scene, Carl II met the actor John Barrymore and then gently pushed Barrymore out of the scene. In June 1921, Carl II was at Hardie’s casino where he was in the water and allowed bathers to jump from his back into the water.
 
For housing, Carl II had a one-story bungalow at Broad Ripple Farms like the houses being built in Miami’s new subdivisions. A story in the Miami Daily Metropolis described the home, “Carl’s new home is one story, has wide eaves, and the upper half of it is latticed; it is about 24 x 25 feet in size and its style of architecture fits in well with the other buildings there and with the landscaping being done on the grounds.” The house was designed so that visitors could view his feeding and tricks being taught.
 
Fisher had a cart specially constructed for Carl II to pull with children aboard.  It was constructed in Indianapolis for the 1922 season. The box was painted green and the red wheels were six feet high.
 
Carl II could be unruly. On one occasion, Fisher tried to show off the elephant to some friends without his trainer. Carl II responded by knocking Fisher to the ground. When Fisher tried to grab the elephant’s trunk, Carl II responded by knocking him in the gut. Soon after this incident, Carl II’s trainer quit because he thought the elephant was too dangerous for the public. On another occasion, Carl II chased a trainer up a water tank.
 
Fisher then decided to hire a trainer from Ceylon. It would take several months for the man to arrive in Miami Beach. As a stop-gap measure, Fisher had Aaron Yarnell, an African American gardener, work with Carl II. Yarnell had shown some rapport with mules. Turns out that Yarnell developed a bond with Carl II and continued as the elephant’s trainer.  Carl II was later renamed Nero.
 
Fisher's favorite elephant was Rosie, an Asian elephant, who was acquired in March 1923 from Ed Ballard as Nero’s companion. She was extensively used in the promotion of Miami Beach. While there are multiple stories about Rosie, some of them  might actually be Carl II/Nero.
 
Rosie posed as a photographer complete with a camera on a tripod taking a picture of a large group of tourists at Miami Beach. She was also captured taking a photograph of some bathing beauties with the ocean in the background.
 
To help visitors get around Miami Beach, Fisher had a bus service. On one occasion, a man fell asleep on the bus while holding a bag of peanuts. Rosie smelled the peanuts through the open window and decided they would be a tasty snack. She stuck her trunk through the window as the man awoke. Startled, the man leapt from his seat. In his rush to get out of the bus, he fell down the stairs breaking a leg. The man successfully sued Fisher.
 
At a bank grand opening, Rosie was to make an appearance at the bank to “make a deposit.” She was startled as the photographers' cameras flashed and people cheered. She did make a deposit…on the bank floor…causing people to run for the exits.
 
Nero left Miami Beach in December 1925 to join the circus in French Lick, Indiana. In exchange, one or two camels were to be sent to draw refuse carts to keep the beaches clean. Other animals had been tried, but they kept sinking in the sand. One of the camels was “Jeanette.”
 
By 1926, Yarnell had taught Rosie to do the Charleston.
 
Rosie was put to work following the devastating hurricane that hit Miami Beach in September 1926. She helped to straighten up palm trees that had been loosened by the winds. Once the palms were straightened, men stabilized them.
 
In February 1927, Rosie held a golf ball on the tip of her trunk while professional golfer Al Espinosa, hit it down the fairway. The caption of the picture immortalizing his event was “Rosie’s mamma might have shuddered…” In the photo, Rosie appears to be laying down. There is also a promotional photo set on one of the golf courses, with Espinosa standing on Rosie’s shoulder swinging a golf club.
 
In April 1928, Fisher placed an ad in the Miami Herald welcoming the Hoosier Shriners to Miami. They responded with ten sight-seeing buses with the Murat band, the patrol, the gun squad, the drum and bugle corps and the chanters and made a surprise visit at the Fisher home on Miami Beach. Rosie made an appearance and went through her tricks for the gathered crowd. She was crowned with a large red fez signifying that she was the “only girl Shriner in North America” which was captured on by newsreel photographers. She was made a member of the Murat Temple of Indianapolis. She was the first (and probably the only pachyderm member) of the Shrine.
 
In April 1932 Rosie was sold to Asa Candler, Jr., the son of Coca-Cola co-founder Asa Chandler, who had a private zoo. She was sold to Candler because her advertising value no longer justified the expense and trouble of her maintenance. She had entertained children in Miami Beach for nine years.  In August, she participated in a benefit for crippled children and just as in Miami Beach, she pulled a cart full of children. When Candler’s neighbors objected to his private zoo, he sold the animals, including Rosie, to Zoo Atlanta.
 
Rosie the elephant is immortalized as a part of Miami Beach’s history at the “Rosie The Elephant’s Playground” at Canopy Park at Five Park Miami Beach. There are two slides for children, the larger of which has an elephant with a slide emerging from the elephant.
 
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