Clowns Exhibit
Blossom's clowns bring smiles
El Campo Leader News |
Wednesday, August 5, 1998
by Mike Galarneau
The Blossom Meyer clown collection at the El
Campo Museum represents a 30 year quest to bring smiles to young faces and
is still bringing happiness to many who view it today.
Mrs. Meyer died in February 1987 but her
memory still lives on in the nearly 300-item collection of clown memorabilia
currently on display.
One of Meyer's fondest memories involved a
time in 1978 when she dressed up in a Shriners' clown costume for the annual
Wharton County Shrine Picnic and children started following her around.
A wide variety of clowns in the form of
paintings, dolls, cups, and needlepoint found their way to the Meyerland
home over the years. So many in fact, that family members used to
tease about needing to add on to the home to accommodate the growing
collection.
Prior to her death, Meyer summed up her
feelings about clowns in a 1983 El Campo Leader-News article.
"Laugh and the world laughed with you; cry and you cry alone," she said.
"Clowns bring happiness to children that no one else can bring. Anyone
who has the ability to bring laughter and joy to another human being has
reached the highest achievement he or she can reach."
Meyer first started collecting clowns in 1957
when she and her husband Bill moved to El Campo. She always had a
deep-rooted feeling of responsibility for those in the community who could
not help themselves, especially those who were handicapped.
Her clown collection was her way of reaching
out to the many people she felt a responsibility to.
Friends and family said they could always
expect new additions to the collection every time she went away on a trip.
It was always a common sight for visitors to drop by the Meyer's home to see
the collection.
Many of the items collected were gifts from
friends and family members who knew she collected them. Others were
just pieces of clown memorabilia that had caught her eye at one time or
another.
Her daughter and daughter-in-law made her
five needlepoint clowns that are currently part of the collection.
Items on display come from many far away places such as Germany, Japan,
Mexico, Israel, France and Puerto Rico.
Among her most prized in the collection are
nine painted clowns castings sprinkled with gold dust by Ron Lee of
California.
One of the Shriner clowns from Houston gave
her three clowns from the Arabia Temple that are also on display.
Other items in the collection include music
boxes, an antique clown doll and a sculpture by Bijou from California.
Copies of clown paintings by Red Skelton,
Picasso, Calder, and Robert Owen also grace the walls of the museum.
Family members felt that donating the
collection to the museum following her death would be the best way to
continue her dream of creating smiles for many years to come.
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