Delmar Fugate Builds the Pink Elephant

When the word Fugate is mentioned, we think first of the store which still bears that name and while Delmar Fugate worked in the store, he left his mark on the Island by creating the Pink Elephant.  A roofless bar called the Patio had been part of Fugate’s.  According to Delmar’s daughter Betsy Fugate Joiner, “After the war the law said that no alcohol could be sold in such proximity to a church, so they had to shut it down.”   

Delmar bought the property at Fourth and Bayou Streets and, as reported in an interview, Delmar noted that “the Pink was built by hand.  We had a one-bag cement mixer and it took a long time to complete.  We even had a 75,000-gallon cistern to store rainwater.”  The cistern had to be cleaned and whitewashed every year.

According to Betsy, “Originally, the Pink Elephant wasn’t a restaurant at all.  It was a bar and a package store.  He (Delmar) was going to call it the Buccaneer, after the fabled pirate Jose Gaspar.  He even had glasses for his new business made with a pirate’s face on them.  About the time it was going to open, people kept telling him it was going to be a ‘white elephant’ because it was located so far out of town.  “Elephant” was the genesis of anther name.

The “Pink” part came from the color Delmar painted the new building.  Betsy says her father always loved the Bahamas and Cuba so chose the pink color for his building.  Delmar is said to have explained the color by saying it was the only paint on sale at the hardware store.  Whatever motivated the color, the “white” elephant became the Pink Elephant when it opened in 1949 with a turquoise neon sign that featured a dancing pink elephant wearing a party hat and gripping a martini glass in its trunk.  The message was clear – this was a place to party.

While it may have been located on the outskirts of town where there were only a few Inn cottages, it was adjacent to the guide docks which lined the bayou between Fourth and Fifth Streets.  The fishing guides made the Pink Elephant their headquarters, using the bar’s pay phone to book their charters.  The late Mark Futch recalled that Delmar “knew the fishermen would bring their customers to the bar.  And they did in droves.  He used to have an aquarium with some baby tarpon in it and people would toss in food.  When those tarpon started eating, the guides would pour out of the bar and head to the pass with almost dead-on assurance the fish in the pass would be biting.”

The lower level of the Pink Elephant was open on all sides and in response to requests for food, Delmar started to barbecue chickens below the upstairs bar.  Louise Crowinshield held the Pink’s first dinner party in 1950 on the patio.  Her menu featured stone crabs and fresh local fish served on Margaret Fugate’s, Delmar’s wife, personal china.  Eventually the downstairs was enclosed and the menu evolved to include sauteed shrimp made with Worcestershire sauce, garlic, light brown sugar, key lime, white wine and a stick of butter per dish as well as freshly made key lime pie and complimentary butterscotch brownies.  Delmar insisted on fresh fish much of which came from Tommy Parkinson at the Fishery.

Music and dancing to the jukebox were a big part of the Pink.  Many customers report that the floor shook when customers in the bar were dancing.  Betsy Fugate Joiner learned to dance the jitterbug there to the jukebox tunes, the “Salty Dog Rag” and “Milk Bucket Boogie.”

Betsy remembers her dad’s smile and his laugh.  The latter was so big that it could be heard throughout the Pink no matter where Delmar was in the building.  And he was a great story teller.  She also recalls that he did not like to be cold.  He went to Maine once and said once was enough.  He loved adventure, especially if it involved fishing, and took the family on fishing trips to the Bahamas and South America.  And he cared about the Boca Grande community.  He was President of the Tarpon Club, a Kiwanis member, a charter member and a member of the board of directors of the Johann Fust Community Library.  Fugate sold the original Pink Elephant to Bayard Sharp in 1978.