The next time you give someone a gift, you might want to choose wisely. It could end up in a museum. That's how it all started for one man in Adams County. WFMZ's Karin Mallett shares his story in this week's One Tank Trip to Mister Ed's Elephant Museum.

   >> REPORTER: A slice of Americana. A real roadside attraction with two life sized plaster pets beckoning you to check out what's inside. Admission is free to Mister Ed's Elephant Museum in Orrtanna, Adams County. Oddball, offbeat and wildly whimsical.. you can't help but want to look around. There's an elephant in every nook and cranny.. More than 10,000 in the collection.. and if you're lucky.. you'll run into Mister Ed himself. 

>> MISTER ED: When God made the elephants, good heavens, it was just a great thing. 

>> REPORTER: But he hadn't thought much about them until Mister Ed and his wife received an elephant knickknack on their wedding day. 

>> ED: And I thought this a dumb present.. it's for good luck she said. So on our honeymoon in Williamsburg I bought four more elephants. 

>> REPORTER: 42 years later.. 

>> ED: It just grew like topsy. Our house was very strange for a long time. 

>> REPORTER: With this many elephants you'd think Mister Ed would lose track.. but his memory is as good as Miss Ellie's. Ask him where any of these came from and he'll tell you. From potty chairs to teapots, there are even a few knickknacks with a celebrity connection. Cher's elephant embroidered pillowcases.. and silver screen siren Lana Turner's silverware. 

>> ED: How could I say no, I mean I had to have this.. Lana Turner's silverware. 

>> REPORTER: Some purveyors of pachyderms will tell you the good luck comes only when the trunks are up.. but Mister Ed might convince you otherwise. 

>> ED: It's an old wives tale but it's one that's really pretty firm in peoples minds. However, if the trunk is - up all the time- one they can't eat, they can't drink and they won't make love so I'm not sure how lucky that is? 

>> REPORTER: Feeling like one of the herd on a One Tank Trip to Mister Ed's Elephant Museum in Adams County, Karin Mallett 69 News Berks Edition.

One-way Time From and To Reading: 2 hours
One-way Distance From and To Reading: 104 miles

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