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Melon Mania!


The Elephant Who Was Fond of Watermelon Today is Watermelon Day in Vining, Minnesota.

Enjoy an arts and crafts show and live performances at the "biggest small-town celebration in Ottertail County!" Extending the melon theme, we feature this fanciful painting The Elephant Who Was Fond of Watermelon.

Hmmmm. Are elephants really fond of watermelon? In the rainy season, elephants eat mostly grasses and herbs on the savanna. During the rest of the year, they visit forests and streams, where they eat leaves, fruit, and bark from various plants. Every day, elephants at the Smithsonian's National Zoo eat 125 pounds of hay, ten pounds of herbivore pellets, ten pounds of vegetables and fruits, and a few leafy branches.

Chuckle with more whimsical artworks in our online exhibition Contemporary Folk Art: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Pictured: John William ("Uncle Jack") Dey, 1912–1978, The Elephant Who Was Fond of Watermelon, 1970s, oil, 18 3/4 x 30 3/4 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of David L. Davies.