I am going to put the moving story on hold until a little later. I want to share something with you that I find somewhat interesting.
You know I am a dreamer, we’ve talked about that before, but I also have a tendancy to hold on to the things I dream of, and look for other meanings. Sometimes they are downright strange, but I am sure there is a reason I thought of them. Right before I awoke this morning a name flashed right before my eyes. Who knows where it came from… but I thought I would check today’s news to see if there was anything about this given name… nothing. So I went back to my first plan… google it baby!
Dan Rice
I don’t know anyone with this name… if you do you need to tell me about him, but I looked it up online and found something I really thought was awesome. OK.. it’s kinda weird, but I am inspired by it anyway.
I am going to copy and past it here I got this from http://www.clown-ministry.com/History/Dan-Rice.html
Dan Rice (1823-1901) - President Lincoln’s Court Jester
Inducted into the 1991 Clown Hall of Fame
The American Grimaldi - Dan Rice was the first truly great American clown, as well as the first clown star of the circus. Dan Rice was born in New York City in 1823. Dan Rice’s first appearance as a circus clown was in Galena, Illinois, in 1844 at $15 a week. Gradually his popularity as a wisecracking, aphoristic, cracker-barrel philosopher, a forerunner of Will Rogers, became so great that he was able to buy his own shows, both wagon and riverboat. By 1862 he was earning $1,000.00 a week, twice as much as President Lincoln. He and President Lincoln were good friends, as were Dan and Jefferson Davis. He was called the President’s court jester. He was well-known for his Shakespearean quips, as well as for a biting tongue. A philanthropist he gave generously to many charities and erected the first monument to soldiers killed during the Civil War.
Dan Rice was an accomplished animal trainer. He specialized in pigs and mules, which he trained and sold to other clowns. He also presented an act with a trained rhinoceros and is the only person in circus history to present a tightrope walking elephant.
A composer, he created many popular topical songs. He campaigned for Zachary Taylor for President. One of the things he would do was invite Taylor to ride on the circus bandwagon in the circus parades. Local politicians would clamor to ride as well hoping his popularity would benefit them. People would comment, “Look who’s on Taylor’s bandwagon,” inspiring the phrase “jump on the bandwagon.”
His untraditional costume consisted of red, white, and blue-striped tights, a star-spangled cloak, a top hat and chin whiskers, the regalia that would later be associated with “Uncle Sam.” Today, he is arguably best-known as the political cartoonist Thomas Nast’s model for Uncle Sam. Rice’s style as clown was based on that of William Wallet, who was an English “Shakespearean” clown who could respond to comments from the spectators with appropriate quotes from the Bard. Throughout the Civil War, Rice prospered and became a figure of national prominence. He was active for politics, besides serving as a political commentator; he ran for office in 1864, and ran for President in 1868.
You might want to read Dan Rice: The Most Famous Man You’ve Never Heard Of , a new biography on the life, times and impact of Dan Rice.
Bibliography
- Creative Clowning by Bruce Fife, Tony Blanco, Steve Kissell, Bruce Johnson, Ralph Dewey, Hal Diamond, Jack Wiley, Gene Lee (or order it from Amazon UK or order it used from
