Long post incomming‼️‼️
Today I picked up this clown vest from a seller on Facebook. it was originally listed for $40 and I thought, god, its so cute, my size, and marvously tacky, but, it's a long drive and a high price. but then it went down to 20, and then to 15, so we (me and my mama) drove all the way up into SC to pick it up, assuming they were struggling to find a home for it. and here she is!!!
I was at first immediately captured by the pins on the listing. the first thing to catch my eye of course were these two absolutely ADORABLE pins
but ! there were also these. and if you know me you know im a huge sucker for barnum & Bailey memorabilia. and a huge sucker for circus wagons (id probably pay $15 just for these three pins alone)
but, anyway, we drove all the way out to the meet up area to get the vest. and I had originally thought the seller was the clown who originally owned the vest, since it was obvious it belonged to a clown (its just got grandma clown stink all over it. in a good way of course)
but when we got there, she told us she had no idea who it belonged to. We came to the conclusion she probably got it from a yard sale, since the rest of the things she sells seem to also be random yard sale stuff.
so the vest itself is cute, but the most fasinating part is the story it tells about the original owner.
Firstly, the vest was either made or saw the most action in 1994-1995. judging by that being the only two dates to show up anywhere on the vest. Including two pins from Freedom Weekend Aloft (1994 and 1995), a hot air balloon festival that ran in Greenville, SC. and "Neato, '95" written on the inside. Which sounds like it could have been this clown's clown name? your guess is a good as mine.
there's a lot of personality and connections to be seen in this vest. these three pins suggest that the owner was married, and had a husband (who may have been named Jerry) and had children
and then most obviously, the owner was a Christian and belonged to the Episcopal Church.
They obviously loved cats, and chocolate, enough to have more than one pin regarding the topics. which are all absolutely adorable
and Most Adorably, there are some images of different clowns on the pins. one of these pins may be of the owner, but they seem to be their friends. (which, again, is so sweet)
I believe these clowns may have obviously been friends, but may have belonged to a clown alley together, because, on the back is this big patch
now, "clown connection" and this logo, I can't find any information on. but "alley #235" reminded me of how the coai (Clowns Of America International) numbers their clown alleys, so, I look on their website in the south east region for clown alleys, where South Carolina would have been. but there were no SC clown alleys, and then i look through all the clown alleys in every region, and there is no alley #235. so, no new information about that. maybe they operated under another organization, maybe they were independently operated, or maybe the alley just doesn't exist anymore, which are all very likely to me.
this vest just tells a really sweet story about a clown who loved their people and their community and clowning and I just. I feel just slightly guilty wearing it, and im opting not to change it too much (no sewing if not to just mend it or reinforce some pins for mild clown action.) i plan on emailing my local episcopal church in hopes to donate the church pins so they can get some use from someone who actually belongs to that church. ((although I want to keep the "god loves the clown in me" pin because I agree with the (surface level) message that Christian Clowns tend to spread and i just think its sweet. And it's too specific to clowning to give the church probably))
I will make sure none of these pins go out of use even if I do not wear them. I will wear them until they otherwise have owners (My Brother has already asked for the i love my kids pin & the angels)
I hope that, maybe the original owner would have wanted the vest to go on being owned by a clown. and I want to put my own collection of pins onto the vest and actually put it to some use soon , but do nothing further to it.
and, gosh, I dont want to pry. but im tempted to contact the coai to ask if they have any information on an alley #235, that may have operated in the Greenville/Spartanburg area in the 1990s. I'm just so fascinated by the history this vest holds and I really want to know about the owner and maybe hear from the alley they belonged to, and maybe find out how this vest got sold in the first place.
