FELIX ADLER, Clown

A few months ago I was contacted by a person who works behind the scenes for the tv show American Pickers. She was interested in using an image I'd posted on my ephemera site, Tattered and Lost Ephemera. I decided to repost the original post here even though I don't own an actual photo, just a magazine image.

I got an email yesterday that the show would be on tonight with the image I'd sent them. Sure enough, there it was along with a credit at the end of the show. Made me smile.
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The clowns I've featured in photos have been nameless, except for Felix Adler. The reason Adler is named in the Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus Magazine and Daily Review is because he was the head clown at the circus.


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(SOURCE: Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus Magazine and Daily Review, 1940)

First Clown to Appear on Television

Felix Adler entertained millions in his role as head clown for Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus. In the hierarchy of clowns, he ranked at the top as a whiteface clown.

He performed with such famous clowns as Lou Jacobs and Emmett Kelly.

All three circus greats lived and practiced their routines in Sarasota.

Adler's costume took up a lot of space because he buttressed his posterior with a couple of basketballs hitched in place with a custom sling similar to a brassiere. He wore traditional whiteface clown makeup adding a big rhinestone on the tip of his nose.

Often the clown topped his garb with a big jello mold for a hat. Remember, the early days of television and product sponsorship? Adler had ties to Jell-O!

Piglets played integral roles in Adler's clowning. He named each one Amelia after his wife and as the piglets became full fledged pigs, he traded them in for a new piglet whom he promptly named Amelia.

The first clown to appear on television, Adler earned his title "The White House Clown" by performing for three presidents (Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Franklin D. Roosevelt). He and his wife were the first American husband and wife clown team. (SOURCE: Squidoo/Felix Adler)

Felix Adler died on February 1, 1960. The following is his obituary from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune on February 2nd.




(SOURCE: Sarasota Herald-Tribune)

Notice the handwork of the staff artist on the photo of Adler. Apparently the image was less than satisfactory for reproduction so the artist did a bit of doodling. Sort of surprised that the newspaper from the town where the circus was headquartered did not have a decent photo of the most important clown.
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HUNGRY HORSE DAM under construction

Looking for an image for this weeks Sepia Saturday had me thinking I’d have nothing. I don’t have any vintage photos of caves unless I drag out some old Viewmaster slides of Carlsbad Caverns. That was tempting until I remembered this photo. Now is the perfect time to post this vintage snapshot.


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Looks like nothing more than an old car on a snowy mountain road, but then the title had me searching for something more.

This image shows the Hungry Horse Dam under construction in Montana. I'm guessing it was a Christmas card for the workers to send back home.


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Hungry Horse Dam is an arch dam on the South Fork Flathead River in the Rocky Mountains of the U.S. state of Montana. It is located in Flathead National Forest, in Flathead County, about 15 miles (24 km) south of the west entrance to Glacier National Park, 9 miles (14 km) southeast of Columbia Falls, and 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Kalispell. The Hungry Horse project, dam, and powerplant are operated by the United States Bureau of Reclamation.

At 564 feet (172 m) in height, the dam was the third largest dam, and second highest concrete dam, in the world at the time of its completion in 1953, with a volume of 3,100,000 cubic yards (2,400,000 m3). The dam's spillway is the highest morning glory structure in the world. The spillway is controlled by a 64-by-12-foot (20 by 3.7 m) ring gate.

Construction of Hungry Horse Dam was authorized by the Act of June 5, 1944 (58 Stat. 270, Public Law 78-329). Construction began in April 1948 and was completed on July 16, 1953. The purpose of the Hungry Horse Project, authorized by law, are irrigation, flood control, navigation, streamflow regulation, hydroelectric generation, and other beneficial uses such as recreation. However, no irrigation facilities were built and the project has no irrigation obligations. Hydroelectric power generation is the primary purpose of the dam today. Flood control is the dam's other main purpose. The dam, reservoir, and surrounding area are used for recreation. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

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So how did the place get the name Hungry Horse?

The severe 1900-01 winter left two freight horses lost and starved in the rugged Flathead River wilderness. Found a month later, their owners nursed them back to health. "Hungry Horse" became the name of a nearby mountain and creek and, later, this Reclamation project.

The first permanent settlers entered the Flathead Valley in 1860. As the Flathead Valley grew in the new century, so did the belief that a new dam could reduce flooding and harness the river's force to produce electricity. Montana citizens worked for 30 years toward bringing this belief to life. Federal agencies surveyed lands and began efforts toward Congressional approval to build a large water project. (SOURCE: US Bureau of Reclamation)

To read more about the history of the area click here.

And this is what the dam looks like today.