Elsie the Cow

The most beloved advertising symbol in the world arrived at the Richmond depot.

Before Joe Camel, before the Energizer Bunny… “bovine glamour” reigned in the form of Elsie the cow, famous spokescow for Borden Milk.

Elsie came into prominence at the 1939 New York World’s fair, where automatic machines publicly milked cows. By the time the fair closed in 1940, Elsie the Cow was its number one attraction.

Dubbed “one of the great cows of our time,” Elsie was renown due to her charming personality and milk-ability.

The most famous cow in the world paid a brief visit to Richmond on March 21, 1941 in her ‘Cowdillac’ on her way to Kansas City.

A party of admirers, including Richmond Mayor John R. Britten, met her at the train station and had their picture taken with her.

Sadly, Elsie went to cow paradise in 1941, and today is buried in Plainsboro New Jersey. The Plainsboro New Jersey Historical Society displays Elsiebilia to this day, and there are plans for an Elsie festival, with a 40-foot mooing statue.

 

 

 


Morrisson-Reeves Library • 80 North 6th Street, Richmond, IN • 47374-3079 • U.S.A.
Phone (765) 966-8291 • Fax (765) 962-1318 • Email refdept@mrlinfo.org
2012© - all rights reserved • Updated
June 19, 2012