A passion for pachyderms

Saturday, Aug. 26, 2000 | 9:40 a.m.

Elephant Castle

Standing in a back room of Mitch Brown's elephant museum at the Elephant Castle in Henderson, one wonders how all this began.

With more than 2,000 elephant-related items on display, Brown confesses she has even more at home. She has been collecting elephants for 40 years -- first on a small scale that just kept growing. "Elephants are very collectible," she said. "I'm not the only nut.

"You start with one, then everybody starts giving them to you, then you start buying them, then searching, then hunting."

And she doesn't discriminate. From stuffed animals to kitsch glasses to expensive Asian antiques, she says she doesn't care what it is "as long as it has an elephant on it."

"It's just elephant talk," she said with a laugh. "My whole life is elephants."

She rummages through shops, antique stores and shows. Her clothes, her jewelry, even her license plate bear some tie to elephants.

"To me, elephants are the most fascinating animals in the world," she said. "They're gentle, majestic, family oriented."

Brown said she has had shops -- "dabbled in antiques, collectibles and glasswear" -- but her dream was to open a museum featuring her collection. Porcelain, ceramic, wooden and metal elephants are part of her collection, along with cases of costume elephant jewelry.

"It's mind boggling," she said. "Nobody can believe I had all of this at my house."

She opened the Elephant Castle -- a gray-stone building in the shape of a medieval castle at 650 W. Sunset Road -- in January to house the collection.

The museum's gift shop includes items as unique as her collection, such as five-piece dining-room sets made of teakwood, monkey pod or recycled ox carts -- all in an elephant motif.

"It's just something different," she said. "I didn't want the run-of-the-mill stuff you see in every other shop."

Naturally, she gets calls from people wanting to purchase items for Republican events.

"Local organizations will pick up items for their fund-raisers," she said.

She plans to start an Elephant Collectors Club next month. Collectors can meet one another, bring their favorite pieces for an informal "show and tell," tour the museum and exchange information, she said.

She said she expects a lively group -- her newsletter reaches more than 25 people, and other collectors display items at the Elephant Castle.