Hartford Circus Fire: Clown with Bucket
PhotographerPhotographed by
Ralph L. Emerson
DateJuly 6, 1944
MediumPhotography; gelatin silver print on paper
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (image height x width): 6 15/16 x 7 5/8in. (17.6 x 19.4cm)
Sheet (height x width): 10 x 8 3/16in. (25.4 x 20.8cm)
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineGift of The Discovery Museum
Object number2003.108.3
DescriptionA man dressed in a clown costume with baggy pants, floppy shoes, a shirt, necktie, and hat, and wearing a clown's makeup, carries a bucket in his right hand and shields his eyes with his left hand. This is Emmett Kelly, Sr., perhaps America's most famous circus clown. A second man with a bucket is behind him. A third man stands looking at bleachers and smoke in the left background. Wooden crates and a trailer are in the right background.
Label TextThe Hartford Circus Fire took place in Hartford, Connecticut, on the afternoon of July 6, 1944. The large tent housing the main performance area of the circus caught fire and burned at an incredibly rapid rate. The tent had been soaked with a mixture of gasoline and paraffin in order to waterproof it, and as a result once it started there was no stopping it. Several hundred people were injured, and 168 people were killed.
NotesSubject Note: The clown carrying the fire bucket is Emmett Kelly, Sr., the best known American circus clown.Status
Not on view
