The Bozo Theatre of Strunk, Nebraska, is where a contingent of the Knights of the White Sepulchre protested the playing of the film Tumid Awakening (Saint Fidgeta and Other Parodies, 99).
Inspiration[]
Bozo is slang for a stupid, foolish, or ridiculous person[1].
The name calls to mind Bozo the Clown, a character whose broad popularity peaked in the United States in the 1960s as a result of widespread franchising in early television. The character first appeared on television in 1949. After the creative rights to Bozo were purchased by Larry Harmon in 1956, the character became a common franchise across the United States, with local television stations producing their own Bozo shows featuring the character[2]. The Chicago Bozo franchise was the most popular and successful locally produced children's program in the history of television, debuting on WGN-TV in 1960[3]. Bellairs would have been aware of Bozo, living and working in the Chicago area in the early-1960s and around the time Saint Fidgeta was published.
References[]
- ↑ Wiktionary: Bozo
- ↑ Wikipedia: Bozo the Clown
- ↑ Wikipedia: The Bozo Show