Roxbury candy as advertised by a clown. 1953

[booksandcheeses.livejournal.com]

Comments

[arcane-nitehawk.livejournal.com]

sigh, now I've got a craving for lemon drops.

Where DID I put that bottle of vodka.

[singeaddams.livejournal.com]

Oh, yum, jelly beans! I'm not risking that clown to reach for them, though.

[misstia]

oh i loved those creme de menthe candies!!

[gillianinoz.livejournal.com]

Kabuki Clown is creepy...

... I think it's the apostrophe eyebrows.

[penpusher.livejournal.com]

Hey! You do know, you have a professional clown in this group, right?

Based on my knowledge of the history of clowns... I do believe this is Bobby Kay (sometimes mistakenly spelled Bobby Kaye), who was with Ringling Bros for years. His makeup changed over time, but the tip off is the mixed eyebrows he used, with one rightside up and the other upside down.

Compare to this Bankamericard ad from 1970:



Same guy, yes?

[booksandcheeses.livejournal.com]

Cool! Yeah, I think that's the same guy.

I used to want to be a clown, actually! I just find much of the white-face clown makeup to be rather disturbing. (And a total pain to remove.)

[penpusher.livejournal.com]

Whiteface is far more "unnatural," which makes for an odder reaction. But I would also note that people who don't know how to apply makeup often make it much more creepy! That's the great thing about Clown College. You learn techniques to make your makeup look good and less scary.

But taking makeup off is pretty easy. You can use baby shampoo or Crisco! If you choose the latter, just don't sit in the sun afterwards.

[youngwilliam.livejournal.com]

Unrelated to candy, you might be able to help me with a bit of clown history research.

Long ago and far away, pre-internet, I'd heard that there was a particular tune classic circus bands often knew, which was only to be played if something horrible happened (EG: tightrope walker fell with no net, lion mauled the tamer, et cetera). The song was a cue for all the clowns to gear up and rush to the center stage to hopefully distract the audience from the horrible thing that just happened.

I've always wanted to know about that tune (the name, and how it sounds), but since I'd heard this at some point in the 1980s, I had no easy way to find out (and 21st Century Googling is getting me nothing). Obviously, it could just be 100% fictional urban myth.

[penpusher.livejournal.com]

That's an easy one, and a song I suspect you already know:

John Phillip Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever."

Someone from the TV Series "Batman" must have known this fact as well, as they used that very song when the program's heroes were about to be perforated by a piano roll cutter during the famed Liberace episode. Have a look and a listen:

[bradygirl_12]

That's interesting about Batman and the song! A good tie-in to Dick's circus past though if it was used for distraction due to a tragedy, must have brought back bad memories.

[tanwen.livejournal.com]

I remember hearing about that with the Hartford Circus tent fire.

[meezergal.livejournal.com]

The candy looks good.

[brendala.livejournal.com]

Well, if their goal was to scare children away from eating sweets, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

[ejia-arath03.livejournal.com]

Orange slices for me please!

[1geek-queen.livejournal.com]

I'd grab a bunch of the orange slices and jelly beans everything. :D