Souvenir elephant
Post 1927 - While various ceramic souvenirs carrying a picture of the provisional Parliament House were created, this miniature elephant was a particularly tongue-in-cheek example.
The new building had been partly constructed during an economic downturn, prompting some backbenchers to describe it as a ‘white elephant’. The name was reinforced one day in 1931 when two circus elephants unexpectedly visited Parliament House and climbed the front steps. One newspaper headline trumpeted: ‘Two Elephants Visit A “White” One’.
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