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June 1953. "Howdy Doody Show's Clarabell the Clown (actor Nick Nicholson) pays a one-week visit to the Dolan family in Boone County, West Virginia, after Linda Dolan, daughter of coal mine foreman, was the winner of the 'I'd Like Clarabell to Visit Me Because' contest." From photos by Phillip Harrington for the Look magazine assignment "Clarabell Takes to the Hills." View full size.
I was on the Howdy Doody show sometime after this image was taken, got to sit in the peanut gallery and squeeze Clarabell's horn. I have no memory of any of it or what Clarabell actually looked like but somehow that experienced is lodged in my head.
The previous Clarabell, Bob Keeshan, became Captain Kangaroo.
I bet having a stranger clown visiting you must have gotten tired after about 20 minutes.
Even the best clown visits tend to get old after a couple days.
Whenever I see a clown on the street, (on their way to a party, street fair etc.) I always ask them if they know where the post office is.
Then, for the rest of the day I can say I asked some clown for directions.
A metal copy of this picture belongs in every fisherman's garage.
I never saw a clown fish in West Virginia
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