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11 Comments

1. 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

2. 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.

3. 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!

   1. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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!!

7. 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.

8. Great article! Brought many good/fond memories. Thank you.

9. 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.

10. 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?

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