Clowns & Hobos

The Schoenhut
White-Face Clowns
by Judith Lile and Jim Sneed

Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed

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 White-Face and Humpty Dumpty Clown Performers
The most famous 19th century Humpty Dumpty troupe performer was George Washington Lafayette Fox Clowns from the Nick Roberts Humpty Dumpty Troupe.	Notice that the clown on the left is wearing a bow-tie an a possibly wood top hat. We have never seen such a clown.
The Humpty Dumpty character was so popular in the late 18oos that he was often used in advertising. The illustrations in this advertising booklet from ca 1877 was probably done by Thomas Nast, the famous illustrator who gave us Uncle Sam, the modern Santa Claus, and other characters. Click on Humpty Dumpty above to see the complete booklet.

THE WHITE FACE CLOWN
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 seven 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.
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Judith Lile Two-part head, hair tuff, Dresden footprint This very early clown features a red "hair tuff" in place of ears. This was probably an attempt to replicate funny-looking hair features clowns often sported (see patent illustration above). The shoes are boat-toed. He has a Dresden paper "footprint" on the front of his suit. We don't know what this Dresden footprint is supposed to represent. The front of his one's suit is blue with white polka-dots and the back is pink with white polka-dots. These have been found in other polka-dot combinations and stripes. Collars can be white, yellow, polka-dot, or other colors. Keller style I - Rare Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Judith Lile Click on this thumbnail to see a full size early box illustration of clowns with pompons (hair tuffs). Click on this thumbnail to see larger image of this 1929 Ringling bros. program depicting a white-face clown with red hair tuffs.	Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Andy Yaffee Two-part head, no hair tuffs, no Dresden footprint Early Schoenhut catalogs show clowns both with "hair tuffs" and without. All clowns we've seen with Dresden footprints" also have, or have had, red hair tuffs. We've also observed that clowns without "Dresden footprints" never have red hair tuffs. Sometimes we find clowns with "Dresden footprints" but no red hair tuffs but we think that the tuffs have fallen off because residue of the tuffs can be found. No Keller style - Rare Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Andy Yaffee	Two-part head, leather ears, boat-toed (toe up) shoes. Keller style II - rare (need head shot)
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Andy Yaffee Two-part head, leather ears, flat forehead Leather ears, accordion - style ruff, flat forehead. Keller style III - Scarce Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Judith Lile	Two-part head, leather ears, forehead ridges A new mold for the face with raised patterns for the painters and a new eye expression characterize this design. Wood cones to support the hat may or may not be present. Keller style IV - uncommon Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed The felt hat version of this style is rare.	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. The head was probably made by applying a hot press to a roughly turned wooden piece. The suit was tied to the arms and legs under the fabric like earlier styles. A wood cone was applied to the head to support his hat. Keller style V - Uncommon Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Susan Turner
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Susan Turner One-part head, tied cuffs, wood hat, brown shoes The above clown sports a wood hat and a tri-color polka-dot suit. He wears unusual, for clowns, brown shoes. We have photographed only two clowns with this costume. The second is below and wears a four-color polka-dot suit. A silk suit has been seen on one other wood hat, brown shoes clown. No Keller style - Very Rare Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed	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. Keller style VI - Uncommon Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Andy Yaffee	Photo by Fred Keller One-part head, open cuffs, wood hat This variation of the previous design is distinguished by his wood cone-shaped hat. Some are found with extra large ears. Keller style VII - rare
Fred Keller's Clown Article In 1998, Fred Keller, author of "Schoenhut's Humpty Dumpty Circus from A to Z", wrote an article for the Schoenhut Collector's Club about the various styles of clowns. He called his article "The Schoenhut Clown, A Closer Look." Click on the illustration above to read this great work on the clowns.	Gallery of Clown Photos Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed We have assembled a gallery of Schoenhut clown photos. See them here.

These navigation buttons will take you to more
detailed studies of the white-face clowns:

The Point-of-Sale Clown
Photo by Jim Sneed from the Strong National Museum of Play	Photo by Jim Sneed from the Strong National Museum of Play Point-of-Sale Clown This clown, at about 45 inches tall, is likely the largest clown that Schoenhut ever made. It was custom built for use in large point-of-sale displays. Imagine seeing him in Macy's toy department around 1910. Very rare

THE WOODEN CLOWN
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 have foot features that suggest they were designed to mount on a ball.
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Susan Turner The Decorated Wooden Clown on a Full Rolly This clown was designed to mount on a decorated ball. A peg under to left shoe attaches to a hole in the ball.	Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Susan Turner The face of the wooden clown is the earless two-part head style. Very rare	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.

Reduced-Size Clowns
The reduced-size clown was introduced in the early 1920s. Their heights are about 6 inches, compared to about 9 inches for the regular-sized clowns. There are three basic styles - leather ears and cloth hat, leather ears and wood hat, and molded ears and hat. Not very many suit varieties have been found. Most have a "dots and diamonds" print of red and green or blue or purple.
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed Leather ears, Cloth Hat The hat is cloth and the cuffs are stitched. This is likely the earliest style - ca 1923. Very scarce Photo by Kay Price	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. Uncommon Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed	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. This is likely the last design made - ca 1930s. The diamond and dots suits are found with red/green, red/blue, or red purple dots and diamonds. Common

The Dollar Clown

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. Rare

Delavan Circus Clowns

These clowns were made by the Delavan Company of Seneca, NY in about 1950. Common
(Click here to see additional Delavan clowns)

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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