Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Item
Title
924-5
Date(s)
- 1935 (Creation)
Extent
Name of creator
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
ca. 1935. Ray Gamble at home with his collection of carved elephants arranged near the hearth of the Walker Cut Stone fireplace. So large and so valuable was the collection that his home became known as "The Elephant House." Original photograph is scored and greeting overlaid for greeting card. By 1965, his collection was considered to be the world's largest. He travelled all over the world hunting elephants with a checkbook and happiest when bargaining for a work of art. He felt that the elephants brought him good luck. He had arrived in Tacoma in 1892 with 82 cents in his pocket. By the time of his death in 1972, he was a millionaire who had lived a full life as a businessman, collector, builder and avid amateur magician. TPL-6694 (TNT 11-21-1965, 3-5-1972)
Gamble, Ray, 1886-1972--Homes & haunts; Gamble, Ray, 1886-1972; Collectors--Tacoma;