Origin of Clowns
By celticeagle
@celticeagle (174082)
Boise, Idaho
September 23, 2023 2:56pm CST
I don't care for clowns. They creep me out for the most part. Remember the clowns from yesteryear? Like Bozo from television, the McDonald's icon, and Crusty from The Simpsons. White faces, big shoes, and colorful outfits. But, something about them just never set right with me. Well, I was watching a stream of one of my favorite YouTube characters, Bailey Sarian, and Dark History, and she had some quite interesting info on the history of clowns. It seems they go back as far as 2400 BC and are found in Egypt. They would capture other tribes and try to make them laugh. Ancient Greeks had one that looked more like mimes. Romans had one that wore pointy hats, patched jackets, and threw nuts at the audience. If someone died they would hire a mime to come in and try to make the mourners laugh. In the Middle Ages, they had pointy shoes, and bells on their hats and were called court jesters. They could say whatever they wanted to the royal family and get away with it. The royals didn't feel threatened because the jesters were lowly people and not be taken seriously.
7 people like this
6 responses
@Deepizzaguy (109447)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
23 Sep 23
Clowns in a circus are okay. If they are sports stars then they are a nuisance.
4 people like this
@celticeagle (174082)
• Boise, Idaho
25 Sep 23
I don't like the ones they have in some horror movies.
2 people like this
@Deepizzaguy (109447)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
26 Sep 23
@celticeagle The It clown was very bad.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (174082)
• Boise, Idaho
26 Sep 23
@Deepizzaguy ........Didn't he have jagged teeth as well?
1 person likes this
@RebeccasFarm (94527)
• Arvada, Colorado
24 Sep 23
Really..all the way back in Egypt time too huh?
I despise clowns..literally.
When I was a kid..Bozo the Clown was fine..but ever after that NOPE.
The ones at the circus I went to when I was young scared me along with the midgets and I never got over it.
That IT movie scared the dickens out of me too the clown in that..horrifying.
3 people like this
@GardenGerty (163399)
• United States
24 Sep 23
It is a shame that the clown has been made to figure in many horror stories. Mostly because his real persona can be hidden by makeup. IT represents a genre called a grotesque white face.
3 people like this
@celticeagle (174082)
• Boise, Idaho
25 Sep 23
@RebeccasFarm .......I like the ones Heather mentioned but many are rather creepy.
2 people like this
@GardenGerty (163399)
• United States
24 Sep 23
I have clowned as a hobby with a Christian clown troupe. Our leader talked about our "tears"--decorative lines at the sides or top and bottom of the eyes. He said we wore tears to show that for a brief time we would take on the sadness of the world so that the world could laugh instead. There are some clowns I like, some I do not. Garden Gerty was one of my clown characters. In the US we usually have three types of clowns, the white face which includes mimes , the "auguste" who had a florid pink face and was often seen as the circus ringmaster, and the hobo type who would be like the clown that Red Skelton portrayed that had a black beard area and sad eyes.Or like Carol Burnette's char woman. Gerty was along the order of a hobo. She liked to garden, and often had brown smears of dirt on her face. She was a sweet soul and I wanted to be more like her so I adopted her as my myLot person.
2 people like this
@celticeagle (174082)
• Boise, Idaho
25 Sep 23
It sounds like it would be a fun gig. That is a very sweet thing about the tears. I feel the same as you about some being okay. I enjoy the ones you've mentioned.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (188220)
• United States
24 Sep 23
Interesting. I like the part in which the Roman clowns threw nuts at the audience. The old clowns don't bother me; but the new, scarier versions bother me, especially the ones that go out and murder people!!! Thanks for the post and have a good day.
2 people like this
@celticeagle (174082)
• Boise, Idaho
25 Sep 23
Yes, those scarier versions aren't for me either. John Wayne Gassey used to dress as a clown. He also drew them in prison.
2 people like this
@LindaOHio (188220)
• United States
26 Sep 23
@celticeagle Yup. He's the one I was referring to.
1 person likes this
