"Jumbo" the walnut elephant

 Vereinigte Staaten > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles

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View 2: The Exhibit Hall at the L.A. Chamber of Commerce building at Broadway near 1st Street in the early 1920s. Here, "Jumbo" the walnut elephant illustrated the walnut production of L.A. County, which was then second in importance to citrus. Also visible, a mini-structure in the likeness of the White House also made out of walnuts, and behind that, a "tree" made out of jars full of citrus or other fruit.Frank Wiggins, the superintendent of events for the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, conceived of the idea to create a larger than life sized "walnut elephant" that was to be displayed at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. 850 pounds of unusually large California walnuts were needed to cover the wire framework used to create this famous pachyderm. Needless to say, it achieved lasting fame for the city and the Chamber. Mabel Normand (1892-1930), a popular silent film star, comedienne, and actress, started her film career with Keystone Studios at the age of 16.