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Cram It Clown legend

C

chris12

Guest
I was wondering where the rumor started of the incident on one of the local Bozo show editions where some kid yelled something like Cram it, clown or even swore on live tv. When I was a kid in the late 80s I heard my one friend's dad say he saw it happen live on the Chicago version where he swore at Bozo when he missed bucket six in the grand prize game.
 
I can assume that you're relatively new to these boards. This topic was covered just a few months ago on these very threads. I can imagine that it's possible that in a few months, another new poster will ask the same question, so it's ok. You get a free pass!

I first heard the "Cram it, Clown!" story back in 1969 while I was a college student in San Diego. The person who told it to me swore that he saw it just the past week. I found that fascinating since 1) Bozo the Clown was not on TV in San Diego; 2) Bozo the Clown was not on TV in L.A., whose TV signals reach down to SD; and 3) There was no home video or Superstations in those days, so seeing Bozo on TV anywhere on the west coast would have been pretty difficult, as in impossible.

That perpetual story has been around about as long as there's been a Bozo on TV, going back to at least the late 1950s.

No one seems to able to trace the story's beginning, but I can tell you who perpetuated the myth and kept it going: The man who was in charge of Bozo's merchandising and licensing rights, Larry Harmon. Harmon, a proven liar who passed away recently, told reporters, media students, any audience he addressed the story, and there are recorded instances where he changed dates and locations. Harmon also falsely claimed that he created Bozo. Totally not true, and he was called on it. He backed off, then claimed that he never claimed to have created Bozo. The man seemed to have issues getting his stories straight.

When I was first able to see the Chicago Superstation, WGN, around 1982, Bozo was on every morning. I learned that those shows had been pre-taped the previous weekend. They taped 5 shows every weekend. With the show having been previously recorded, I highly doubt that the "Cram it, Clown!" incident would have gotten by the producers, that is if it had really happened in Chicago.

To sum it all up, the story is a myth, urban legend, BS, totally bogus, and it never happened.
 
I first heard the rumor in the mid 60s. Bozo was on the air in LA at that time - on KTLA in its afternoon block of kids programs. I remember because I loved the other KTLA shows, but hated that clown, and had to change the channel when it came on. But most shows were filmed or video-taped by then, so I doubt "cram it, clown" would have gotten on the air.
 
Lkeller said:
I first heard the rumor in the mid 60s. Bozo was on the air in LA at that time - on KTLA in its afternoon block of kids programs. I remember because I loved the other KTLA shows, but hated that clown, and had to change the channel when it came on. But most shows were filmed or video-taped by then, so I doubt "cram it, clown" would have gotten on the air.
Click to expand...

I just had my 40-year high school reunion, so maybe it's possible that my memory is playing tricks on me.

I would have sworn that Bozo's last L.A. TV address was KCOP, and was long gone by 1969. I also would have sworn that KTLA's 1969-era afternoon block was aimed at teens, but again, memory can play tricks.
 
When Bozo's Circus was live at noon in the 1960's in Chicago, and Bob Bell was the Bozo, I heard about this.
I was pre-teen and our school showed Bozo's Circus on 2 TVs in the lunch room.
It sure-nuff could have happened live on WGN channel 9.

The story was that the kid missed bucket No 6, and swore.
Bozo said, "That's a Bozo no-no." and the reply from kid was "Crammit, Clowny."
 
RicoGregg said:
Lkeller said:
I first heard the rumor in the mid 60s. Bozo was on the air in LA at that time - on KTLA in its afternoon block of kids programs. I remember because I loved the other KTLA shows, but hated that clown, and had to change the channel when it came on. But most shows were filmed or video-taped by then, so I doubt "cram it, clown" would have gotten on the air.
Click to expand...

I just had my 40-year high school reunion, so maybe it's possible that my memory is playing tricks on me.

I would have sworn that Bozo's last L.A. TV address was KCOP, and was long gone by 1969. I also would have sworn that KTLA's 1969-era afternoon block was aimed at teens, but again, memory can play tricks.
Click to expand...

I wasn't contradicting you, Rico - you are probably correct. I stated that Bozo was on KTLA in the mid 60s. Shortly after that, they started running Shebang! with Casey Kasem, which was certainly teen oriented. I don't remember the exact time-slot, but it would have knocked out a couple of those kids' shows. By the late 60s, Shebang was gone from KTLA, but they had hired the infamous George Putnam away from KTTV. They gave him a second news hour from 5:00 to 6:00. I believe all the kids shows were gone by then, preceded by off-network sitcom reruns on both stations. Those reruns were cheaper to buy than the costs of locally produced kids shows. As I remember, Sheriff John on KTTV was the last locally hosted kids show, and lasted into the early or mid 70s.

Bozo may very well have been on KCOP after KTLA, and probably was gone by 69. Like I said, I hated that clown, so I really didn't seek out the show.
 
George Putnam, ninety something years old, and still has a radio show going. I swear, listening to his show, that man is still living in the 1940s.

George Putnam. Now there's a clown that someone should say "Cram It!" to!

Last add (hopefully) on the Bozo story:

I think the biggest tip-off that the story is apocryphal is the fact that no one seems to able to agree on when and where it took place. If the story was true, everyone would agree on the one place and the one year when it did happen. As it is, this story has been all over the road in terms of time and place.

Besides, don't you think there'd be a tape or kinescope of the incident?

I also would think that the kid who supposedly said "Cram it, clown" would be some sort of cult figure, or quasi-celebrity, and would be featured in various media sources. As it is, I've never heard of anybody claiming to have been that kid.

I think it would be a good thing if the story died once and for all with Larry Harmon.
 
RicoGregg said:
I think the biggest tip-off that the story is apocryphal is the fact that no one seems to able to agree on when and where it took place. If the story was true, everyone would agree on the one place and the one year when it did happen. As it is, this story has been all over the road in terms of time and place.
Click to expand...

That is, more or less, the essence of an urban legend. The only other ingredient is that you almost never hear anyone claim that they directly witnessed or experienced the details of an urban legend -- it's always "a friend told me..." or "this guy I knew has a friend who says..."
 
Growing up in Baltimore, Md. we had our own version of the story..the show was "Professor Kool's fun school" Starring local TV legend Stu Kerr wearing a cap & gown, size 32 clown shoes, and goofy glasses..this exchange allegedly happend during riddle time..

Kid; why is a woman like a frying pan?
PK: I dunno why?
Kid; cuz ya gotta 'em befor you stick the meat in...
PK; well THAT's not very nice!
kid EAT ONE CLOWN!

An interesting variation on the old urban legend..The wierd thing is I still run into people who SWEAR they saw this!!!
 
oops that line should read : "cuz ya gotta warm 'em up before ya stick the meat in"

A moot point considering it never happened ::)
 
...of course, one complicating factor is Kermit Schaefer putting a badly-produced "recreation" of the audio of this myth on one of his damnable Pardon My Blooper LPs, thus allowing people to "hear" the "incident"...
 
Ultimajock said:
...of course, one complicating factor is Kermit Schaefer putting a badly-produced "recreation" of the audio of this myth on one of his damnable Pardon My Blooper LPs, thus allowing people to "hear" the "incident"...
Click to expand...

I loved those Schaefer blooper records when I was a kid. Only later did I learn that many, if not most, of the clips were recreated. True, some of them were actual incidents that had been broadcast but never recorded (and, in some cases, he got the original participants to do the recreation), but others were dramatized urban legends, chief among which was the old "Uncle Don" myth. ("That oughta hold the little bastards...")
 
Stanislav said:
Ultimajock said:
...of course, one complicating factor is Kermit Schaefer putting a badly-produced "recreation" of the audio of this myth on one of his damnable Pardon My Blooper LPs, thus allowing people to "hear" the "incident"...
Click to expand...

I loved those Schaefer blooper records when I was a kid. Only later did I learn that many, if not most, of the clips were recreated. True, some of them were actual incidents that had been broadcast but never recorded (and, in some cases, he got the original participants to do the recreation), but others were dramatized urban legends, chief among which was the old "Uncle Don" myth. ("That oughta hold the little bastards...")
Click to expand...

...last time I checked. I was the only person who intentionally said "That oughtta hold the little bastards" at the end of a program (as evidenced at http://kingdaevid.podbean.com/2008/05/22/the-technicolour-breakfast-9-april-2001-part-two/, heh heh)...
 
firepoint525 said:
And at some point, that clown appeared on every talk show imaginable, and claimed that Proctor & Gamble were satanists, right? ;D
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That's Ralph Reed (Christian Coalition) you're thinking of! ;D :D
 
BobSacamano said:
Growing up in Baltimore, Md. we had our own version of the story..the show was "Professor Kool's fun school" Starring local TV legend Stu Kerr wearing a cap & gown, size 32 clown shoes, and goofy glasses..this exchange allegedly happend during riddle time..
Click to expand...

According to an old friend of mine who watched the Boston Bozo show as a kid, Bozo also had a riddle time when he'd call on the kiddos to try to stump ol' Bozo with riddles. Toward the end of the show's run some of the riddles were getting a little inappropriate, although I don't know the specifics.
 
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