The Birth of GOP's Elephantasy .....
On this day in 1874, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon by Thomas Nast, an image that included the first important use of the Republican Elephant.
According to this archive piece in the New York Times, the cartoon is one of Nast’s most important because, "it marks the first notable appearance of the Republican Elephant, which the cartoonist would develop over the next few years into the universally recognized symbol for the Republican Party. An elephant had been associated twice before with the Republican Party ... however, in neither case did the caricature have a lasting impact on other political cartoonists or the public as a symbol for the Republican Party."
http://archaeotex.blogspot.com/2009/11/birth-of-gops-elephantasy.html
