Lou Jacobs Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Clown with Giraffe
c 1950. Gelatin silver print mounted on board, 9 1/2 x 7 1/2 in. (241 x 190 mm) from the Roland Butler Collection, Press Agent, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (1930s-1960s) Roland Butler Collection hand stamp on verso.
September 1992 newspaper obituaries lauded Lou Jacobs as the “emblem for the Ringling circus,” “the world’s most famous living clown, “the last of the best.” “Fellow circus performers and other veterans of Clown Alley . . . knew the man: they knew there was no paradox in Jacobs. The white-face and the rouge did not mask some poverty of spirit. They magnified a generosity that his colleagues responded to as readily as his audiences. . . “He was more than a master clown,’ said Steve Smith, the director of the Clown College. ‘He was a master human being.” “His face--with trademark oversized mouth, gaping smile and arched eyebrows framing a brilliant red balloon of a nose--was used on thousands of posters and billboards over the years to herald the coming of the circus founded by John Ringling North and others. Perched atop that joyous countenance was a tiny hat that forever seemed ready to fall from Jacobs’ pointed head. He also was known for his fully operational 2-foot-by-3-foot car into which he managed to cram his 6-foot-1 body, afterward spending several hilarious minutes trying to extricate himself. Some estimated he may have been responsible for more laughter in live performances than any other man in history. “Few people have ever lived who brought so much pleasure to so many people,” stated Ringling Bros. President Kenneth Feld.
Condition: Very good +.
Item number: 243
Price: $250.00
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