Old Print Article: “Life Of An Old Time Clown,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle (1896)

July 31, 2010 in Old Print Articles, Urban Studies | Permalink

"Grotesque appearance." (Image by Rinina25 & Twice25)

John Foster was an elderly clown passing through Brooklyn in 1896 when he was profiled by the local papers. Born into poverty in Pennsylvania and orphaned at a very early age, he made a place for himself in the itinerant circus world. An excerpt from an article about him in the July 19, 1896 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle:

“A few weeks ago, in the outlying districts of Brooklyn, an old fashioned country circus was going about. Like all other small circus companies, they had an original tattooed lady, the wild men of Borneo, etc., but in their troupe was one man who is known from one end of the country to the other, that is, by theatrical or circus men. That man is John Foster, clown, Shakespearean jester and the last of the old school, i.e., those who depend on talking and singing rather than gesture and pantomime as the clowns of to-day do.

Mr. Foster is probably to-day the eldest clown in the business, over fifty-two years having passed since he first stepped into a circus ring.

Modern clown: I salute you, John Foster. (Image by Robert Lawton.)

He was born of poor parents, both of whom died in his infancy, in the little town of Chamberburg, Pennsylvania. Brought up in hardship and having had little opportunity for schooling, he early made up his mind to do something worth while in the world.

So one spring day in the year 1845, clad only in a large straw hat, check shirt and pantaloons, and with no shoes on, he applied for a job with the Robertson & Eldridge circus, which was then playing in Chambersburg.

His grotesque appearance, combined with his determination to carry his point, made a favorable impression on the managers, who hired him and put him to work washing the clothes and doing odd jobs about. His natural abilities showed itself, however, and before he had been six months with the company he had begun his professional career as a clown and ring performer.

In his time Mr. Foster has played with and known to every performer and circus man of note during the last half century, and has been with shows in every civilized country.

Mr. Foster is a short, thick set man, quite gray and wears a small mustache and goatee. He loves children, and when at home always has a lot of them about.”

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