International Clown Hall
of Fame, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Now in Baraboo, Wisconsin)
Tribute by Jeffrey Sward
The Dwarf with
the Otto Griebling and Felix Adler displays
at the International Clown Hall of Fame,
Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 2005.
Tucked away in the Tommy G. Thompson Youth Center at the Wisconsin
State Fair Park is the International Clown Hall of Fame.
You may need to knock, as foot traffic
often is low. Professional clowning is
a serious business and takes a high degree
of skill and dedication to be done well.
The International Clown Hall of Fame honors
those great clowns of the past with distinguished
careers.
The International Clown Hall of Fame and Research Center was conceived in 1986, as a University of Wisconsin student project in collaboration with the Delavan, Wisconsin, chamber of commerce. Delavan became the museum's first home. After fifteen years in Delavan, the museum moved to Milwaukee, circa 2001. Then, after a couple of years in the big city, it moved again, to the outskirts of Wisconsin. Eventually, its collection of artifacts and ephemera wound up in storage, where it stayed for about four years. In 2009, Greg DeSanto combined the International Clown Hall of Fame w with the Barnum and Bailey Circus Museum already in Baraboo Wisconsin.
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