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A few of our guests have been asking why we decided on Wilbur, Eldo, Rose, David, Nellie and Zelda as names for our static caravans, and why there are so many elephants dotted around the inside?
Many of you will no doubt re-call the books, written by David McKee, describing the adventures of the multi-coloured patchwork elephant called Elmer, but I guess a few less will know the background to why McKee created him.
In an interview published by The Telegraph as part of the 25th anniversary of the Elmer books, he was asked “Why did he want to write a story about an elephant trying to fit into a monochrome society? By way of an answer, McKee, told a story. One day he was walking down the street in Plympton, Devon with his late wife, Violet, and daughter Chantel. "There was another family on the other side of the street and the boy said: 'Look, there's a n****er!' My daughter was upset. I thought, he's talking about my daughter. I couldn't believe it. She is darker skinned because her mother was Anglo-Indian, but my daughter is beautiful – as was my wife."
One day Elmer, the patchwork elephant, decided he'd had enough. The uninteresting-looking grey elephants with whom he lived at the river had been teasing him for his dazzling skin of many colours. Ashamed of his appearance, he painted himself grey.
Later in Elmer, the elephant realises that his attempt to fit in has backfired. Not only do the other elephants fail to recognise the grey Elmer, they don't accept him as one of their own. Then it starts to rain, and the grey paint washes off Elmer, revealing his true colours. The other elephants are happy to have the fun-loving, brightly coloured elephant back.
This story, the first of 22 books about Elmer, has been praised for instilling into young children respect for others' differences and stressing the virtue of being oneself.
So, in summary, Elmer represents embracing difference, which we at Holistic Thinking Holidays, are really passionate about when it comes to people with special needs. So why did we choose Wilbur, Eldo, Rose, David, Nellie, Zelda and Tailah for our caravan names?
Well we already had Elmer the campervan, who you may well have seen in some of the photos on the website, so since Wilbur, Eldo, Rose and Zelda are Elmer’s friends, we settled for those names, and we have some scope when we expand our range of Adapted Static Holiday homes further, as Elmer has a few colourful friends within his stories.
Hang on a minute what about David, Nellie, Tailah and Jubilee??
Well David is a tip of the cap to Mr McKee, and David is also the name of a much loved uncle who passed away, just after we visited the 4th caravan for the first time, as well as being the name of our biggest cheerleader and financial supporter David Gundry... Claire's dad. Then of course there's St David for our Welsh friends and guests 😊 .
Nellie? well Mrs HTH chose that one as we or at least The Caravan Man, started to think longer term beyond the number of Elmer's friends that are named in the books.
Tailah? Well Tailah is the name of the little girl who owns the caravan at Burgh Castle, and we're renting that one out on her behalf.
And the latest addition Jubilee is named after what was thought to be the first Asian elephant born at Chester Zoo, in 1977. His father, the Asian bull Nobby, escaped before he was born and ran amok across fields outside the zoo. He was shot dead and is buried in the paddock where the Asian rhino/deer now live. Asian Bull Nobby just happens to be the nickname of Suzanne the caravan owner at Prestatyn's husband.... tenuous link, but we like it!
So any fictional elephant names, or any name we choose to give them as long they have a story behind them for that matter, are on the agenda, and it does of course also mean that we still have 2 more of Elmer's friends to go!! So look out for Red, and Super El, although I think we need a bit of a rest before expanding much further 😊
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