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White-Face Clowns
of the Schoenhut Circus
by Judith Lile and Jim Sneed
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Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed
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Albert Schoenhut
modeled the face his white face clown after Humpty Dumpty
Troup performers of that time and the company never changed this look in
over thirty
years of production. The Schoenhut clowns in this photo are from the period 1903 to
1930. |
The most famous 19th century
Humpty Dumpty troupe
performer was
George Washington Lafayette Fox
Clowns from the Nick Roberts
Humpty Dumpty Troupe. |
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THE WHITE FACE CLOWN |
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The white face clown is the circus' clever
clown. He sets up the pranks - usually at the expense of the other
clowns. He never has exaggerated features such as a large nose. The
Schoenhut clown is probably the most studied of all of the characters.
Fredrick Keller has formally identified nine distinct regular sized
clown designs based on head and body design combinations. Other
production combinations probably exist - some transitional pieces
probably exist that used up old parts.
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Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Judith Lile
Two-part Head, Ear muffs
This very early clown features a red "ear muff" in place of
ears. The shoes are boat-toed. He has a Dresden paper
"footprint" on the front of his suit. The front of his suit is
blue with white polka-dots and the back is pink with white polka-dots.
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Judith Lile
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Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Andy Yaffee
Two-part head, No Ears
Early Schoenhut catalogs show clowns both with "ear muffs"
and earless.
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed
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Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Andy Yaffee
Two-part Head, Leather Ears
Leather ears were added a little later.
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Judith Lile
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Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Susan Turner
One-part Head, Tied Cuffs
At some point, the clown's head was changed to a one-part design.
This was probably done by applying a hot press to a roughly turned
wooden piece to make the face. The suit was tied to the arms and legs
under the fabric. A wood cone was applied to the head to support his
hat.
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Susan Turner
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Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Susan Turner
One-part Head, Wood Hat
This beautiful and scarce clown sports a wood hat and a tri-color polka-dot
suit. He wears unusual, for clowns,
brown shoes.
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Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Andy Yaffee
One-part Head, Open Cuffs
Later, the suits of the one-part head clowns were overcast stitched
and the arm and leg design changed. See detailed studies of the clowns
below.
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Gallery of Clown Photos
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed
We have assembled a gallery of Schoenhut
clown photos. See then here.
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These navigation buttons will take you to detailed studies of the white-face
clowns:
         
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THE WOODEN CLOWN |
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Apparently, A. Schoenhut had some
notion of producing a wooden body clown very early in the development of
the Humpty Dumpty circus. No stand-alone versions are known. Samples
that have been seen seemed to have been designed to mount on a ball. |
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Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Susan Turner
The Decorated Wooden Clown on a Full Roly
This clown was designed to mount on a decorated ball.
A peg under to left shoe attaches to a hole in the ball.
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Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Susan Turner
The face of the wooden clown is the earless two-part
head style.
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The design patent for this toy was issued in May of
1904. Note the differences between the patent illustration and the
production sample on the left.
Click on the patent image to see a full size
view.
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Reduced Clowns
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(need photo)
Leather ears, Cloth Hat
The hat is cloth and the cuffs
are stitched.
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Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed
Wooden hat, leather ears
This reduced clown's head was molded with leather ears attached. The face
painting was done much like that of later regular clown's. A wood hat
was attached.
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed
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Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Susan Turner
Molded heads
A later reduced clown was made by molding the head, hat, and ears
together in one piece.
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The Dollar Clown |
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Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Susan Turner
This little clown was part of the dollar set which
contained a
clown, donkey, and elephant along with some accessories. |
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Delavan Circus Clowns |
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These clowns were made by the Delavan Company of
Seneca, NY in about 1950.
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If you have clowns with production
variations different from those shown, please send us photos
so we may
share them with our readers.
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