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Among August’s weird days and observances is International Clown Week.
Which I realize will not make those who suffer from Coulrophobia happy.
If this is you, no hard feelings if you skip reading this post. More power to you if you even braved clicking the link to read this far.
However, for those interested in how such a week even came into existence, read on. This is one of the few weird observances with well-documented info about its inception.
- Clown week started being celebrated unofficially to some degree starting in the 1950s.
- In the late 1960s, members from both Clown Club of America and Clowns of America organizations began pushing their congressmen and senators to request a presidential proclamation to make August 1-7 National Clown Week.
- In 1969, Arkansas Senator John McClellan, who was the chairman of the United States Senate subcommittee on Observances and Holidays, introduced the resolution.
- In 1970, the House and Senate both passed Public Law 91-443, which was sent to President Richard Nixon for his signature.
- President Nixon signed it into law on August 2, 1971.
- Clowns of America renamed it International Clown Week to recognize clown members all over the world.
- The Saturday of International Clown Week is National Clown Day.
- Clowns of America International is considered the sponsor of Clown Week.
- Other clown groups include: World Clown Association (USA), Clowns Canada (Canada), Shrine Clown Association (USA), and Clowns International (UK).
- How many clowns are there? There are 10,000 clowns with memberships in clown groups. But not all clowns belong to a group, so some estimate there are as many as 20,000 clowns around the world.
I can’t help myself. I have to make this statement about Fact #10: Does that include all the clowns in politics?
Clown Week Trailer
Clown Week inspired the movie maker in me to create this short vid:
The above 10 fun facts about International Clown Week were gleaned from Holiday Insights, Wikipedia, and National Clown Week.
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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