Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Central Asia yurt night stars
Uzbekistan • 15 days, 14 nights
Central Asia Road Trip: Backroads & Bazaars
from
A view of Brașov’s Old Town.
Romania • 12 days, 11 nights
Legends of Romania: Castles, Ruins & Culinary Delights
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
World War I Firing Walls
Cercle solaire du Kiischpelt
Kiischpelt’s Solar Circle
Front of the monument from the ground
Niederwald Monument
Names on the bartop.
The Dive
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
Names on the bartop.
The Dive
Cacio e pepe lasagna combines two classics.
C'è pasta... E pasta!
Spaghetto taratatà is named for the sound of rattling sabers.
Giano Restaurant
The gnocchi here get blanketed in a sugo with braised oxtail.
Cesare al Pellegrino
Romans insist you should feel the cracked peppercorns and cheese grains on your tongue.
Flavio al Velavevodetto
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Dug-out Dan poses for a picture.
The Curious History of New England’s Hermit Tourism
The Big Well
This Kansas Town Advertised the World’s Largest Well. It Wasn’t.
Rats didn’t take over the city by being foolhardy.
Do New York City Rats Deserve Their Bad Rap?
The Secret Gardens Saving the World’s Rarest Plants

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States Indiana Fortville Martini-Drinking Pink Elephant
AO Edited

Martini-Drinking Pink Elephant

The bespectacled, cocktail-sipping pachyderm is a strange but fitting liquor store mascot.

Fortville, Indiana

Added By
Howard Feingold
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
How many pink elephants wearing thick black-framed glasses sipping a martini have you seen?   howardfeingold / Atlas Obscura User
The Martini-Drinking Pink Elephant in front of Elite Beverages   Map Data © 2017 Google
The Martini-Drinking Pink Elephant from down the street   Map Data © 2017 Google
10-5-24   Darrell Powers / Atlas Obscura User
  ski queen / Atlas Obscura User
10-5-24   Darrell Powers / Atlas Obscura User
  Ian Sanwald / Atlas Obscura User
  jogg099 / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Seeing a pink elephant is commonly associated with being inebriated, making this bespectacled cocktail-sipping pachyderm a fitting, albeit still extremely strange liquor store mascot.

Outside Elite Beverages in Fortville, Indiana, the giant pink elephant sits on an aging wooden cart, wearing black-framed glasses slipped down the bridge of its nose, with its trunk wrapped around the stem of a martini glass. 

At 12 feet tall and 19 feet long, the elephant has been headquartered in front of the barn-like liquor store since the 1980s. Its glasses and the olive in its martini have occasionally been stolen, but townsfolk also like to add things, particularly around the holidays. The elephant has been bedecked in Christmas, Pilgrim, leprechaun, and Uncle Sam garb depending on the time of year. It has also been known to attend local parades and festivals.

To top it off, at a nearby restaurant and ice cream parlor called Indulge, the elephant has been honored with an ice cream concoction called the Pink Elephant featuring strawberry ice cream, soda, whipped cream, and rock candy, all served in a martini glass.

Update as of April 2021: The inebriated elephant has returned to his post in front of the new location.

Related Tags

Elephants Sculptures Alcohol Beer Wine

Community Contributors

Added By

howardfeingold

Edited By

thekaylalee, Ian Sanwald, AaronNetsky, ski queen...

  • thekaylalee
  • Ian Sanwald
  • AaronNetsky
  • ski queen
  • Darrell Powers
  • jogg099

Published

July 12, 2017

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMEXGF_Fortville_Indiana_Martini_Drinking_Pink_Elephant
  • http://theartofsimple.net/travelapp/
  • http://littleindiana.com/2013/11/indulge-fortville-indiana/
  • http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/461
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortville,_Indiana
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seeing_pink_elephants
  • http://www.roadarch.com/critters/ele.html
  • https://books.google.com/books?id=he1H22CfdoMC&pg=PA130&lpg=PA130&dq=pink+elephant+fortville&source=bl&ots=As-QiGykIQ&sig=0SCko6d9GdXMDpgMMG_7dQT5Qmc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjz17q7n__UAhXMFz4KHa6xCZs4ChDoAQhKMAc#v=onepage&q=pink%20elephant%20fortville&f=false
  • http://fox59.com/2015/03/13/your-town-friday-heads-to-fortville/
  • http://www.townepost.com/indiana/geist/elite-beverages-father-and-son-build-more-than-a-business/
  • http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/2019/03/01/toast_of_the_town_pink_elephant_set_to_rejoin_its_familiar_spot_in_fortville/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook
Martini-Drinking Pink Elephant
308 W Broadway St
Fortville, Indiana
United States
39.929869, -85.850327
Get Directions

Nearby Places

James Whitcomb Riley Boyhood Home

Greenfield, Indiana

miles away

Hamilton County Museum of History and Jail

Noblesville, Indiana

miles away

Magick Candle

Indianapolis, Indiana

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Indiana

Indiana

United States

Places 147
Stories 18

Nearby Places

James Whitcomb Riley Boyhood Home

Greenfield, Indiana

miles away

Hamilton County Museum of History and Jail

Noblesville, Indiana

miles away

Magick Candle

Indianapolis, Indiana

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Indiana

Indiana

United States

Places 147
Stories 18

Related Places

  • Round Rock, Texas

    High Country Market Bistro & GastroPub

    This gas station offers wine tastings and craft beer.

  • Ridgedale, Missouri

    Bat Bar in Lost Canyon Cave

    If there's another drive-through golf-cart bar in a bat-filled cave on top of a mountain, we don't know about it.

  • Inzai, Japan

    Futago Park

    This park was once home to now-extinct Naumann's elephants, and what might have been a real Banksy.

  • Visitors can try all manner of fortified wines here.

    Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal

    Poças

    Sample port and quinine-fortified wine at this fourth-generation winery near Porto.

  • South African hops add their own distinctive character to the beers here.

    London, England

    Eko Brewery and Taproom

    Named for the Yoruba word for Lagos, this craft brewery draws on European beer-making and West African palm wine-fermenting techniques.

  • Sweetgrass Winery

    Union, Maine

    Sweetgrass Winery

    Grapes be damned, this distillery makes wine from apples, blueberries, cranberries, and more.

  • Weston, Missouri

    TerraVox Winery

    A vineyard devoted entirely to an unexplored flavor frontier.

  • Beaucaire, France

    Mas des Tourelles

    A winery built on the site of a Gallo-Roman estate uses historical tools to recreate ancient vintages.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.