We’re digging into the photo archives for this #FlashbackFriday to shine a little light on the Pluto image and some of its devilish incarnations — a few of which you can still see today at French Lick Resort.
In case you’re not up on the Pluto connection to French Lick, here’s the rundown.
When local doctor William A. Bowles first built a hotel on this property in 1845, he touted the health benefits of the area’s naturally occurring mineral waters. It became a huge draw for guests who visited to “take the waters” that had a pungent sulfur odor and powerful laxative effect. The largest spring was named “Pluto’s Well” since the water originated underground and Pluto was the Roman god of the underworld.
At the turn of the century, new hotel owner Thomas Taggart took things a step farther, building a bottling plant across the road from the hotel. Pluto Water — with its unmistakable fire-engine-red devilish mascot that also became the symbol of Taggart’s hotel — was suddenly an enormous national brand with annual sales exceeding $1.2 million by 1919.
The perk of visiting the hotel was you could go out back and dip yourself Pluto Water straight from the source. This wooden version of the Pluto Spring house was the first iteration of this iconic structure, which still stands today in the hotel gardens. The structure evolved in later years to include a Pluto figure perched atop the roof, “keeping watch” over the spring with his trident and shield.
That devil. He seemed to be everywhere. On matchbooks. Stamps. In newspaper advertisements, postcards, and even depicted on dishes at the hotel restaurant.
He also kept watch over what was known as the Hot Pluto Buffet, where hotel guests could get their Pluto Water fix without venturing outdoors to the springs. The Hot Pluto Buffet is where 1875: The Steakhouse stands today. (Below are interior and exterior views.)
The devilish statues above the Hot Pluto Buffet were relocated above the marquee of the hotel’s front steps for a brief time. Today, they’re safely situated at their new home at the French Lick West Baden Museum, located just across the highway from the south end of the hotel. Stop by and snap a devilish selfie alongside Pluto. (It’s one that’ll make everyone pause and look while they’re social media scrolling.)
Study some of the display cases located throughout French Lick Springs Hotel and the adjacent Event Center, and you’ll find the Pluto likeness on some other old relics and collectibles. Another place to find Pluto today? Front and center on the series of ceiling murals in the hotel lobby. This kingly, blue-robed, white-bearded figure is more true to how Pluto was actually depicted in Roman mythology; the devilish persona was merely the product of some clever marketing.
If you’ve got an eagle eye, there’s another place to spot Pluto’s influence today at the hotel. Stand on the garden terrace and look up toward the exterior windows and roof of the steakhouse. Look for a pair of Pluto symbols: a decorative “P”, as well as a menacing Pluto face. A couple of pretty cool reminders about the Pluto legacy that helped this historic hotel bloom into the beauty it is today.
