Backroad Backstories
A drive on Iowa's Highway 9 opened a time capsule with a slice of Americana
I love driving the backroads! Iowa is a beautiful state, with distinctive landscapes, charming small town squares, and well-kept farmsteads and acreages. But what I love most about traveling the backroads are the surprises awaiting around a corner or over a hilltop.
How many times have you done a double-take as you're speeding along the highway, but you don't have time to slow down or stop to satisfy your curiosity?
My sister-in-law, Lorna, has spent many hours and thousands of miles on Iowa's backroads this summer. A few weeks ago, on her way to Osage, she posted this photo to her Facebook, with the caption: "The things you see on the backroads of Iowa."
As you can imagine, it sparked questions and conversation.
My first question: "Was the elephant a political statement?"
"No, I didn't see any political signs to go along with it," she replied.
"Why would you have that in your yard?" followed by the comment, "I want one!"
"Was this along Highway 9?" someone asked.
Finally, someone responded that she recalled reading about it; the elephant had been part of a collection from a place called Tom's Wonderland in Manly. She had visited there as a child.
I couldn't let this go. So many questions! What was Tom's Wonderland? Why did it close down? How did the elephant end up in this yard? Here's what I found out when I asked. . .
A Glimpse of Bygone Days and Old-Time Music
First, the elephant's name is Ellie. Made of fiberglass, she's an Indian elephant, and originally was painted pink. She weighs 1,750 pounds and is 12.5 feet tall. She was owned by Tom and Jean Fretty of Kensett. The Frettys owned a couple of businesses in Kensett, but expanded into Manly. Beginning in 1966, their business became known as Tom's Country Market and Mechanical Music Wonderland.
It was a large entertainment venue, attracting families from across northern Iowa. The museum brimmed with antique phonographs, band organs, player pianos, calliopes, a Regina phone (playing both music box discs and phonographs), a Hurdy Gurdy (hand-cranked), and jazz band organs. Tom's Wonderland also featured an ice cream parlor and gift shop. Another building in the amusement complex housed life-sized animated characters talking about "life as it was," back in the day.
"It had a blacksmith shop, barber shop, and other frontier businesses, and it was great for a wide-eyed kid like me – I loved it," Pat Cordle told me.
In earlier days, the Frettys had operated Tom's Damaged and Unclaimed Freight. They would call the town telephone operator, and she'd send out a general ring to alert people that a railroad car or truck full of canned goods, furniture or carpet had arrived, and was available for reduced prices.
Tom's Wonderland relied upon highway billboard advertising, but in the 1970s after passage of The America the Beautiful Act, the Frettys were forced to remove their 48 signs. Business began to dwindle. Furthermore, there was stiff competition from TV entertainment, and Interstate 35 diverted traffic from Highways 65 and 9. TV and radio and newspaper ads didn't work as well; so the Frettys closed their business in 1981. Several dozen mechanical musical items were auctioned off. Tom passed away in 2015 at the age of 87 years. Jean died a few years later.
"As a kid, I knew Dad had built an ambitious business, and looking back today, I wish I'd asked more about how he and Mom made it work," says Sandy Bruesewitz, the Frettys' daughter, who still lives nearby.
A larger than life steer had kept Ellie the Elephant company. It ended up at the fairgrounds in Austin, Minnesota. Fretty also owned a giant mouse, and a Piggly Wiggly Pig; there's no word on their whereabouts. But how did Ellie the Elephant survive, and remain in Iowa?
A Whole Herd of Elephants
Not far down the road, near rural Plymouth, LaVonne and Jim Gregory had built an unusual hexagonal house on the family farm. They filled it with their collections of exotic art, unique wood, ivory, and jade animal carvings. The Gregorys also raised Boxer dogs and Himalayan cats. LaVonne collected elephants --hundreds of them – although none the size of Ellie. "She even had curtains in her house with an elephant pattern," Pat Cordle says.
Jim decided to surprise her, and buy Ellie. They installed it in their yard along Highway 9, and LaVonne painted her grey.
Once, in an interview about the presence of a large elephant on his front lawn, Jim Gregory remarked, "It made a lot of drunks sober up."
Over the years, trees grew up around Ellie, and she no longer was a visible Highway 9 landmark. LaVonne died in 2020 at age 89. It required six online auctions to sell the Gregorys' collections. The last auction included Ellie.
Childhood Memories and Local History
Pat Cordle's parents had owned the Donut House at Tom's Wonderland. He and his siblings all worked at the Donut House when they were growing up, and the Donut Shop sign adorns the wall of his shop today. He also spent time with Tom Fretty, calling him a mentor. Tom took him to his first auction. "He was the original American picker," he says.
Cordle also knew the Gregorys. After they passed away, he wanted the elephant to stay on Highway 9. So he registered for the online auction, with encouragement from three of his buddies. They stationed themselves at their computers for hours into the night. There was brisk online bidding competition for Ellie the Elephant, and finally it came down to a bidder in northern Minnesota and one in Louisiana.
The Highway 9 Elephant Fund had a few donations from the community and friends, but after the bidding rose to $8,000, Cordle decided he should drop out. His friends convinced him not to give it up, and he got back in, winning with a bid of $9,050.
The final challenge was hauling Ellie 1.7 miles down the road on his flatbed trailer, circumventing utility poles, electric lines, and phone cables. He added 63 tons of fill and cement chunks to the site in front of his home where Ellie stands sentinel now. That was in March 2021.
And, by the way, here's another back story: Cordle's girlfriend Donna Meacham also worked at The Donut House when she was a teen. She and Cordle shared their first kiss in the Manly movie theatre when they were in junior high. Flashforward 40 years, and they're back together again. "I want to buy something, and I need you to come with me to see what you think," Cordle told her. "That's so cool!" she exclaimed when she saw the elephant again. That's when Cordle says he knew for sure "she was the gal for me." He tells me that Donna also bought LaVonne Gregory's elephant patterned curtains!
Manly natives Warren Westcott and Pat Deninger are producing a documentary about Tom’s Wonderland. You can watch a few video interviews at:
Westcott expects to complete the documentary by the end of the year, and he’d welcome your photos, slides or 8 mm film of your visits to Tom’s Wonderland. To follow up on the documentary, contact tomsmusicalmuseum@gmail.com or warrenwestcott@gmail.com; or call 952/454-4068.
The Joy is in the Journey
No doubt Ellie the Elephant will remain a source of curiosity and wonder to passersbys for some years to come. But for northern Iowans, the elephant is an enduring remnant of the fabric of their lives. "It's part of our history here," Cordle told me.
You never know what you might see when you travel the highways and byways of Iowa. You also never know what you might learn. Cordle hopes that some passersby will take a few minutes to learn the story of Tom's Wonderland, and how Tom Fretty spent a lifetime working to share his love of musical instruments, as well as the wonder of "how life used to be".
And the next time you travel the state by car, keep your eyes on the road, but set your GPS for a backroads route. Expect the unexpected.
"They say an elephant never forgets. But what they don't tell you is, you never forget an elephant." ---Bill Murray
Here is a link to the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative Sunday Roundup, where you can get a compilation of our members’ work published the previous week.
I love this story! Fascinating! Thank you for sharing it with us and for reminding us that you truly never do know what is around the next curve.
I just finished sending Tom's Wonderland to 12 friends and relatives and they all will enjoy it.