Here’s a surprising fact: London went absolutely elephant-mad in the 1700s. A real live elephant arrived in the city’s menageries, and it was treated like a rock star. People would pay a penny just to watch it eat hay.
How Did Elephant And Castle Get Named – QXYVRS
Combine that with the medieval obsession with “elephants and castles.” In old bestiaries (nature books written by people who clearly never saw a real animal), elephants were mysteriously drawn with little forts on their backs. People genuinely thought elephants were natural battle-tanks.
So the pub sign was basically a hot trend: “Look, it’s an elephant! With a castle! That’s like, four trends in one!” It was the avocado toast of the 18th century.
