During the early summer of 1963 as a small child growing up in Chicagoland, I was fascinated when one day as a construction crew showed up at our suburban home. Right outside the kitchen wall a huge digger began to tear up the ground right next to our house. I watched for hours out of the kitchen window as the hole grew larger and deeper. Over the next couple of days I watched as plastic sheeting, wood forms, and plumbing was put into place. What I remember most though, were the cement trucks coming in and pouring yard after yard of concrete and filling in the hole to make our new “patio”. Now a 5 year old knows little of geopolitics, but from that day on, I couldn’t talk about our new secret room in the basement.
Bozo
Weeks later our family took a long Saturday drive west from the city to Wheaton, Illinois. There in a small wood frame store were tables loaded with camping gear, cots, lanterns, and survival supplies. As I turned around, a chubby, balding man bent down and stuck out his burly arm for a handshake. I was in shock! Gone was the top hat, red coat and tails. In its place a short sleeve shirt and slacks. His jovial look, chubby cheeks and toothy grin betrayed him though…it was Ringmaster Ned from Bozo’s Circus! (Ned Locke) Not handsome by the Hollywood standards of today, he was a media icon during those early days of TV. To children throughout Chicagoland he and the Bozo show were HUGE!
Ned Locke
A little background on Ned Locke. Born in Minnesota in 1919 he first was on the radio at the age of 9. After graduation from High School he became an announcer at Des Moines radio giant WHO. During the 1940s he operated 2 Des Moines area airports training many pilots and served as the Director of Aeronautics for the State of Iowa for 7 years. By 1950 Chicago radio was calling and Ned merged radio with his love for flying by hosting the “Uncle Ned’s Squadron” radio show. His radio copilot during those days was fellow announcer Hugh Downs.
He provided not only entertainment but incorporated teaching, virtue, and patriotism during those shows. A few of the remaining copies of that show have topics such as loyalty or the importance of Armistice Day as the show’s theme. By 1954 he shifted from NBC radio to NBC TV in the Chicago Market. For many years he served as the Santa Claus for the yearly NBC Christmas Specials. By the late 1950’s he came to WGN TV which served as his media home for the remainder of his career.
Stocking Up
Meanwhile at the store my parents continued about the place picking out stackable cots, a huge lantern flashlight, a large 50 gallon water tank and a metal device that growled when the crank was turned. At the checkout he talked to my mother and slipped her a few items for us kids. These turned out to be tickets to the Bozo show and were like gold since the waiting time was several years for show tickets. Returning home, the fallout shelter supplies were set up in the secret room. Metal shelves lined the walls and became loaded down with canned goods.
The galvanized tank was set up and filled. The bunk cots were set up and the growler box was placed next to big pipes that stuck out of the concrete wall. Thankfully we never had to use our shelter and decades later when my folks moved, we cleaned out the room leaving only the empty metal tank and the “growling” air blower for the next owners.
Media Personalities
Compared to the narcissistic, weirded out entertainers of today, it is truly refreshing to remember a time when many media personalities were God fearing Americans! When he retired in 1976, Ned Locke moved to the Missouri Ozarks to go fishing and golfing. Never one to be idle, he reentered civic service as Park Commissioner, Chief of Police and then until his death Mayor of Kimberling City, MO. Now in my 60’s, in order to verify my fading recollections from about 55 years I called his surviving son and family. They informed me that yes, he had built a fallout shelter in his home and ran a business building them and selling survival equipment in the 1960’s. They gave me permission to tell my story to you all.
Epilogue
About 6 months after visiting the store my sister, mom and myself went to the WGN studios in Chicago and saw Bozo’s Circus. For a 6 year old that was truly a wonderful experience. May you rest in peace “Ringmaster Ned” Truly you were a man who loved kids, his community, his country and was an unsung prepper.
Your Bozo the Clown and Circus Story was great and brought back fond memories of when I lived in the Midwest. As a young kid I remember the Barnum & Bailey Circus coming to my town with a parade down a main street. Tigers and Elephants and Clowns the whole works. They yelled out to the kids to come down to the park grounds and watch the Circus et set up. My buddies and I went down later and sure enough a giant wrestler man was there and directed us to come and standby as the elephants stood the tent poles up and then they pulled on the ropes to raise the tent and set the tent stakes. Here we were standing right next to the elephants as they worked. We tagged along while the wrestler guy fed the tigers with large chunks of red meat. I guess we helped but probably just got in the way. I remember though the muscle-bound wrestler looking guy really seemed to enjoy us being there. He gave us tickets to the circus and on our way we went. This went on for a couple or three years I remember. I can’t help but think now what an experience that was and I’m sad my kids never had a chance like that. It wouldn’t happen in today’s world for sure. Good memories though. Its good to remember the way things were and share them. -up in Maine
If any one wants to pay one’s respects too one of our own he died on 4 Feb 1992 (aged 72) and his Ashes were scattered at Table Rock Lake, Kimberling City, Missouri.
First time on your site, and it brought back many memories of my youth, parades, circus, and bozo show (grew up in Pennsylvania, not sure if it was the same show or a local version.) it was a great reading, and the type of reading I enjoy. I am going to search your site for e-mail or member signup. Thank you so much for such an enjoyable story!
For the privacy of our readers, we don’t maintain e-mail lists. I hope that you enjoy the archives, which date back to 2005. We’ve been posting daily, almost without fail, since then.
My dad was born in 1917, in Sandy Hook, Kentucky. He ran away from home at age 9 and joined the Barnum & Bailey Circus as an “elephant boy”. Loved elephants all of his life, and had better memories of the circus people than of his own family. So sad that political correctness has demonized the circus.
What a great story and what nice comments. I’m in my sixties and all that comes to my mind right now is, I SURE MISS AMERICA.
I can verify as a fellow Chicago-area kid that Ringmaster Ned was as big a celebrity as we could imagine, and one we would not have been afraid of. Joviality itself, and even today, when 60-somethings of Chicago exteaction meet, if one say they got to go to The Bozo Show,we still accord them an impressed gasp and some envy.
This adds a great new light about Ned Locke, how cool!!
I guess it would be called early day syndication but back when I was a kid our local television station , here in X south Mississippi showed taapes of the Bozo show . Still recall some of them , great show . Be prepared and ready. Keep your powder dry.
Great article! Brought many good/fond memories. Thank you.
My wife and I Both went to Bozo when we were children. She played the Grand Prize Game!!!! Got to Bucket 5 and missed. She still has her Bozo the Clown Doll. Gotta be worth something. Great Story, I was Born and raised in the Chicago-land area. This brought back fond memories. Thanks for sharing a story about a Man who inspired children to respect and admire public servants.
Yep great memories. I too was on the show but in the late 1960s and you are correct my aunt sent away for tickets when she was pregnant with her first child and by the time we went he was 7 and I was 8….got to say “folks here’s Rocky”. I also remember watching the Ray Rayner show and if I’m not mistaken he was on the Bozo show before having his own morning program on WGN. I had the 4 foot tall “Cuddly Dudley” doll and the cardboard dog house…..squeezed all the stuffing out of the neck.
And for the person who misses America…….It sure didn’t take long for them to destroy her, did it?