Colma, California: Circus Showfolks of America Memorial

The art belongs on a box of cookies rather than a grave. Which is why we like it.

I remember when the clown monument was a brightly painted, huge wooden board grave placard back in the '60s and '70s. If was 6 feet tall and 3 or 4 feet wide with a huge, grinning clown on it. You could practically see it from any part of the cemetery.

It was always so creepy! My Dad used to like to drive past it thinking I wanted to see the clown. From the time I was 4 or 5 I have hated clowns. Trust me, although still sort of creepy, this monument is a definite improvement!

In Colma (a.k.a. the City of the Dead) there are a lot of crazy monuments in the cemeteries. One of my favorites is the Memorial for Circusfolk. Paid for by the Showfolks of America, the memorial is the final resting place of a number of circusfolk. The monument is marked by a giant yellow clown face, as well as a merry-go-round and big top tent.

Ed Vinson wrote in "Visitor Tips" on 2/23/99 about the graves for circus people in Hugo, Oklahoma. I want to let you know that Olivet Memorial Park in Colma, California, set aside a section for circus and carnival workers in 1945. The section is now full and is marked by a large granite monument with a really scary-looking clown on it.