Space-Age Otto

Otto Griebling sporting a different look than the one we are used to seeing. He's replaced his derby with a graduation cap, his usual coat or vest for a US Navy jacket and is all ready for the end of the Eisenhower Era and looking forward to the beginning of Kennedy's New Frontier with a pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses and a space-age Sputnik gag.

Anyone out there remember the gag?

Wikipedia Entry

Please visit the wikipedia entry that I've created especially for circus clowning at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circus_clown

And PLEASE feel free to edit and add to it so that it becomes a honest, useful and reliable resource.

Thanks,
Pat

The Stimaxes

Another piece of the great big puzzle of American circus clowning comes to us from new contributor David Powell who sends us this photo of Walter (silver tailcoat) and Millie (black & white checks) Stimax taken March 6, 2000 on the LE Barnes Circus.

Photos taken about the same time appeared Monday on Bill Strong's blog, YESTERDAY'S TOWNS...

http://yesterdaystowns.blogspot.com/

The Stimaxes must have been hired at the beginning of the season, Walter then suffered a stroke some soon after. Dave Hoover told me over and over that he wanted classic three ring circus clowning for the show. I was flat out dumbfounded when the show made it here to New Jersey and the somewhat lackluster clowning was being done by a Russian couple in the contemporary European/Latin American style.

Thanks for helping clear that up David!

Sa-So

Another great photo from Bill Strong...

Pat, I lifted this off a 1954 Hamid-Morton program, so I don't know how it will come through.

I don't know a thing about Sa-So, (pronounced Say-So), what kind of clown he was, or whether he worked anywhere except the Hamid-Morton Show, but his make-up has always fascinated me. I seem to remember that he was also Bob Morton's chauffeur.

The 1956 Hamid-Morton Milwaukee program features the same photo with the captions "Sa-Sothe Clown - His Father A Clown" and "Always Clowning".

License to Clown

Looks to be (from left to right) Dime Wilson, Ed Raymond, unidentified, Dennis Stevens, Gene Randow and Kinko Sunberry looking down from above.

This from Bill Strong...

I have been trying for months to identify the Clown between Ed Raymond & Dennis Stevens, just looking in a 1949 Polack Program I discovered it is Jack Klipple.

St. Louis Police Circus 1947

The clown at the cannon appears in a series of photos in the recent coffee table book 1000 CLOWNS but isn't identified. I see Dick "Rocko" Lewis, possibly Otto Griebling and Jojo Lewis in among the line.

Also in the ring for this gag were Joe Coyle, the Bakers, the Sherman Brothers and Bill Alcott but they do not appear in this crop. Looks like they are doing the chicken gag, shooting a chicken from the cannon.

Billie Burke's Christmas Card

Billie Burke is here to remind us that there are only 194 shopping days left until Christmas.

Moon Launch Gag

The Lou Jacobs-inspired auguste on the far right is "Jazzbo", the clown cop next to him looks to be Charlie Franks. I'm not sure about the two whitefaces, the year or the show but it looks to be a gag about a moon launch. Cheesy looking props but a great looking ring curb!

Happy Kellams Litho

One of Happy Kellams' autographed giveaway lithographs.

Shrine Alley

I don't know what Shrine show this is from (if Irv Romig is there it's probably from the Michigan area) but I do know that the two on the far right are Dick "Rocko" Lewis (on top) and Irv "Ricky" Romig (on bottom, leaning on his hay wagon) . Anyone know the other three? I know that the auguste clown cop turns up in the back row of the Cole Bros. alley photo that I posted a few weeks back.

And if anyone has photos of Johnny Tripp, Bobby Kellogg or Buck Baker I've got info that I'd like to post but no photos.

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This just in:

The Clown cop is Charlie Lewis...

http://greatcircusclownsofthepast.blogspot.com/2006/05/charlie-leuro-clown-cop.html#links

John Toy

Ask and ye shall receive... here is a photo of John Toy. John had a long career on the Shrine circuit and taught one year at Clown College, which is chronicled in Bill Ballentine's book CLOWN COLLEGE.

Thanks go out once again to Robin Estes for providing the following info from Jackie LeClaire...

Photo was taken by Ralph Vincent who was a news photographer for the Journal in Portland Oregon.

The clown in the photo is John Toy or Johnny Toy. He clowned with me on the Orin Davenport dates in the 50's. He was from Minneapolis, Minn. His mother I think owned a dramatic school or taught there. Pardon my spelling but I think it was The McPhail School of Dramatic Arts. I visited it once myself. John Toy had instant memory. We could go to a musical movie and he would come out knowing all the words to the tunes. He had worked, and here I go with the spelling again in the ( probably 40's) dramatic presentations called Chetalkwas (?) He was a very brilliant man and loved clowning. He later married and for all I know may still be alive today. He has a mind that was hard to keep up with. Excellent, hard working clown with a definite individual style of his own.—Jackie LeClaire

Billy Griffin

We have the following info on the 1st picture, from the Tegge Circus Archives...

Snapped on the Bailey-Cristiani show in 1955.—Tim Tegge


Now we're cooking with gas! Here's some pictures of Billy Griffin, a name I often see attached to ANY photo of an old-time whiteface that can't otherwise be identified.

Carl Marx

Here's a guy who must have had a hard time getting work during the McCarthy era, Carl Marx.

He's one of those people whose name your read mentioned as being a fixture on Shrine shows of his time but you almost never see a picture of him. Now we have, thanks once again to Bill Strong.

Marx makeup is very similar to Billie Burke's, an adaption of Lou Jacobs' adaption of Albert Fratellini, yet they are all different and distinct.

Now if anyone out there has photos of John Toy and Billy Griffen THAT would be a big help too!

Superman Commercial

Great Caesar's Ghost! The cast of the Adventures of Superman pitches Kellogg's Sugar Smacks with Lou Jacobs featured prominently on the box and an animated Paul Jung at the end.

Lou Jacobs Sugar Smacks

Lou Jacobs as one of the original mascots (along with Paul Jung) for Kellogg's Sugar Smacks. I wonder if the clowns used in the campaign saw any additional income from these?

Paul Jung Sugar Smacks

Some examples from Paul Jung's tenure as the mascot for Kellogg's Sugar Smacks. Various clowns were used on the boxes from 1953 to 1956. The first two were Lou Jacobs and Paul Jung from 1953 through 1954. Then Cliff "Cliffy" Sobier from ABC-TV's Super Circus took over for 1955 and the last to be used was Charlie Bell in 1956. It was then that Kellogg's replaced them all with a seal named Smaxey.

It would have been nice if the series had continued and circus clowns had a place to be recognized the way athletes do on boxes of Wheaties.

Charlie Bell Sugar Smacks

Charlie Bell as the fourth (and final) clown featured on boxes of Kellogg's Sugar Smacks. I'm sure the excitement from Cecil B. DeMille's the Greatest Show on Earth had subsided and shows like Super Circus and Big Top were winding down so it was time for Kellogg's to move on to something else...like a seal in a sailor suit...to sell Sugar Smacks. When I was growing up their mascot was a frog named "Dig 'Em". Makes about as much sense as a circus clown or a seal in a sailor suit I guess..

An extremely nice and very thoughtful note (and some more information on Charlie Bell's family) from CC grad and former Ringling road clown John Darragh...

This is a Sincere compliment , for the Beautiful work you've thus far displayed via your Blog. There is no doubt in my mind, that you will do your best to enhance this Blog dedicated to the Most Ancient and Honorable Art Form, to the fullest degree.

Sadly as time moves on, the Art of professional Clowning is further diminished and bit by bit the Men and Women who were at the forefront of our craft are sadly forgotten. Thank you for keeping the memories and spirit of those who travelled before us, alive and well.
Thank you also for providing the story regarding Marceline and as well Charlie Bell.

I had the Great fortune to join the show just in time to meet and eventually befriend Charlie's daughter Charlotte and Grand daughter Tessi (Dancer/Showgirl- Red show 81, 82- Sells Floto 84. I think she may have at one time married into the famous Knock Circus Dynasty, by marrying Joe Bauer jr. son of the legendary fearless sway pole artiste Joe Bauer, but I'm not certain. I lost contact with her many years ago, Unfortunately. The Humor, Charm and Talent of Charlie Bell certainly traveled through the blood line. His other Grand daughter Tosca was a headline aerialist attraction at the time I joined the show, but was married to Gunther's ex right hand man Henri Schroer at the time, so I never really got the chance to know her.

Frank and Charlotte's son was also an aerialist and trapeze flyer, performing most notably in the late sixties, early seventies with the likes of Keith Anderson and the various flying troupes that came out of Cape Town, South Africa during that period of time.In the obituary you posted for Charlie Bell, his Daughter's name is incorrectly spelt.Her marriage name is Kora, not Korak. I know for some it means nothing, but for others it makes a World of difference.

In closing, I would just like to say Once Again, Thank You- you're doing a Great job, and do so Hope you'll be able to maintain your Blog on a continuous basis. I give you a lot of creditfor creating this Blog, and I'm sure I'm not alone in my Thankfulness for someone to finally come forward and provide a site that is Seriously devoted to the Silliness of our craft and at the same time Very Educational and Extremely Entertaining. Sincerely, John Darragh