Limited Signature Edition

B/377 - Bozo the Clown

(© Larry Harmon Pictures Corp, 1984)

Limited to 1000 Sets - Issued in 1984

Bozo the Clown

The doll shown here is Prototype no 1.

The first 1000 dolls produced comprised a Signature Edition.   Each such doll had a Limited edition sew-in label, (see below), and included a Certificate of Authenticity

Although in one sense this doll was a “Portrait” model, it was drawn from the “B” (British Traditional / British Pageant) series.   After 1984, Bozo was still available, but was no longer a Signature Edition doll.

Bozo the Clown started life as a character in a series of book and record sets intended to help children learn to read.   This highly innovative idea led to the clown having his first TV appearance in 1949.

In 1956, Larry Harmon, (one of a number of actors who had played Bozo in various locations and venues), along with several partners, bought most of the rights to the character.

Harmon franchised Bozo, so that TV stations across America could all have their own local “Bozo”, starring in their own shows.   Bozo also starred in comic books and cartoons.

The last ever televised episode, titled "Bozo: 40 Years of Fun!", was shown on WGN TV (Chicago, USA), as a prime-time special on July 14, 2001.

The term “Bozo” was an American slang expression for someone with no brains – Its use preceded the arrival of the clown, and was undoubtedly popularized by him

Cuff detail
Signature Edition Label (back)
Signature Edition Label (front)

News

21st September 2023

 

Important Announcement

 

My dear wife, Christine, passed away on the 8th December, 2021, after 8 weeks in hospital. I was by her side, when she slipped away from me peacefully, with no pain or suffering.

 

Chris had been struggling with a slow decline in health, associated with a progressive, untreatable, and ultimately terminal lung disease, and finally succumbed to her old adversary, Pneumonia.

 

We had been friends for 55 years, together as a couple for 50 years, and married just a month short of 48 years, when she died.   

 

This website was Chris's idea, and I did all the technical stuff, to make it work.   After news of Chris's passing reached her close friends in the doll collecting world, I was deeply touched and gratified to hear their tributes to my dear wife, and I must thank them all for their kindness and support.   Ultimately, it was her doll friends that gave me the courage to continue with the website.

 

In the months before her eventual hospitalisation, Chris had outlined a number of additions and changes she wanted to make to the website, and it is my intention to honour those wishes, and to implement the changes we had considered, over the coming weeks and months.

 

I must apologise to all those who have written to us via the website, only to have your emails go unanswered.   Unfortunately, the email system had been hacked aroung the time Chris was going into hospital, and many emails must have been lost, as a result.

 

As you might imagine, I felt completely broken by Chris's loss, and it is only now, almost 22 months after her passing, that I have felt strong enough to even look at the website again.   

 

My aim is to continue with the website, and to implement Chris's aims for her many new ideas as soon as I can.   In the meantime, I have hopefully got the email system sorted out, and I will attempt to answer any enquiries as soon as I can, and to send replies with the same high degree of accuracy that a reply from Chris would have had.

 

From now on, I will be flying solo, whilst my co-pilot and guide will be soaring much higher, (though she is always in my heart, and in my thoughts).

 

My thanks to all our website visitors for your continued support

 

Dave (also known as Arthur), and Chris, (my lost love, Guinevere)

 

Christine Poulten

25th December 1949 - 8th December 2021