Clowns must tell their jokes by pantomime, for their voices cannot be heard throughout the huge tent. At the center are the originators of burlesque boxing. A member of a famous circus family referees. The female impersonator provokes laughter by tumbling from high-piled tables.
Photograph by Richard Hewitt Stewart, Nat Geo Image Collection
Different variations of the comic (and terrifying) character have existed in nearly every civilization throughout history.
ByNational Geographic Staff
October 19, 2018
The circus is one of the world’s oldest tourist attractions, and perhaps no figure is more emblematic than the clown.
Different variations of the comic character have existed in nearly every civilization throughout history—they appeared in the pantomimes of ancient Greece, in front of Egyptian pharaohs, performed for imperial Chinese courts, and took the stage in Shakespeare’s productions. Phineas T. Barnum, founder of Barnum & Bailey Circus, famously said, “Elephants and clowns are pegs on which to hang a circus.”
While historically their role has been one of jest and comic relief, images of the clown have evolved throughout the centuries. Today, pop culture icons like Stephen King’s 1986 horror novel turned film It and Charles Dickens’s Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi, a biography on England’s most famous clown, painted a more sinister character. This trope has proliferated in the horror genre during the past century.
There is not half so much tragedy behind the funny make-ups of clowns as people like to believe.
National Geographic Magazine, October 1931
While photographer Richard Hewitt Stewart’s glass-plate photos from National Geographic’s October 1931 issue give off a distinctly spooky vibe, the story actually challenged the clown’s bad rep. “There is not half so much tragedy behind the funny make-ups of clowns as people like to believe,” wrote author Francis Beverly Kelley. “All in all, the clown's is a noble calling. The world is full of tears, and man by nature is a sorrowing creature. It requires infinitely more to send us into the gales of laughter than it does to make us cry.”
Dainty equestrienne and grotesque clown may come from opposite ends of the earth. Offstage they fraternize like a happy family. Many of them have friends outside the show, but those who marry usually find mates among their fellow performers.
Photograph by Richard Hewitt Stewart, Nat Geo Image Collection
Clowns must tell their jokes by pantomime, for their voices cannot be heard throughout the huge tent. At the center are the originators of burlesque boxing. A member of a famous circus family referees. The female impersonator provokes laughter by tumbling from high-piled tables.
Photograph by Richard Hewitt Stewart, Nat Geo Image Collection
Dromedaries scorn frivolity. Not a glance does the fat clown draw from these surly chariot pullers. Whether one-or two-humped, members of the camel family have double-barreled tempers, swivel joints permitting kicking in any direction, and no sense of humor.
Photograph by ORREN R. LOUDEN, Nat Geo Image Collection
Majesty goes into the parade led by buffoonery. Even these ridiculous grooms cannot destroy the age-old dignity of the stately dromedaries, and the girl riders laugh at the contrast. No two clowns look exactly alike. Once a man "makes up" in a peculiar manner, he has a moral copyright on that tuype of appearance.
Photograph by Richard Hewitt Stewart, Nat Geo Image Collection
Alice found no greater fun in Wonderland. The merry old clown, who loves children and is popular with them wherever he goes, enjoys giving a tiny visitor a special treat. He knows stories of famous performers who were born in the circus, cradled in trunk tills, and reared under the big top.
Photograph by Richard Hewitt Stewart, Nat Geo Image Collection
Two stilt performers pose outside the entrance to the "Big Top."
Photograph by Richard Hewitt Stewart, Nat Geo Image Collection
Offstage, as in the tent, Felix delights children. He is telling them about his pet pig, Pork Chops, which follows him all around the hippodrome track and drinks form a bottle like a baby.
Photograph by Richard Hewitt Stewart, Nat Geo Image Collection
This article was originally published in October 2017.
