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Middletown, New Jersey: Evil Food Circus Clown

If human clowns creep you out, imagine one that's 22 feet tall and mean-looking. The Food Circus supermarket has long departed, but its evil clown sign, Calico, scowls and survives.

Spirits Unlimited

Address:
853 Hwy 35, Middletown, NJ
Directions:
Spirits Unlimited. On northbound Hwy 35 just south of the Kings Hwy intersection.
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Evil Food Circus Clown.

Evil Food Circus Clown

The Evil Food Circus Clown is still looking as mean and evil as ever.

[Chris, 07/06/2021]

Evil Clown of Middletown.

Evil Food Circus Clown

After an agonizing wait for progress regarding the fate of Middletown's 1956 clown grocery/liquor store sign, the Save Calico, The "Evil Clown" of Middletown, NJ Facebook group founder Margie Rafferty Criscione reports:

"The 'Circus Liquors Redevelopment' proposal just came out, and thank goodness I filed all that paperwork with the NJ state historical society folks 'way back in 2015, because it appears that Calico will remain in the place where he is currently standing. ... [the] Sign received a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) from the New Jersey State Historic Preservation Office on July 17, 2015. The applicant proposes to maintain the Calico Sign in its existing location."

Details still to come...eventually. The Clown abides!

[RoadsideAmerica.com Team, 04/17/2019]

Calico, the Evil Clown of Middletown.

Calico, Evil Clown of Middletown

The fate of "Calico," a New Jersey sacred roadside sign, is in question once again. Plans are finally afoot, after a 15-year delay, to build the Middletown Town Center on the land where he stands along Route 35. Sign preservationists and local fans are concerned that developers might be uninterested in the Evil Clown of Middletown.

Decades ago, the flat, two-sided cutout of an eerily sinister circus clown spun ceaselessly and enticed passersby to shop at Food Circus (which later spawned the Foodtown grocery chain). The clown was designed by Leslie Thomas, the artist who created Asbury Park's Tillie at Palace Amusements -- another beloved sign face horror -- currently in storage.

The grocery store was replaced long ago by a liquor store, which currently sells Evil Clown Hats. Clown activists will be attending upcoming town planning board meetings, intent on preserving this unique and goofy landmark. Their Facebook Page: Save Calico, The "Evil Clown" of Middletown, NJ.

[RoadsideAmerica.com Team, 04/13/2015]

Evil Clown in holiday cheer mode.

Evil Clown

The sad thing is, when time is up for this clown, it's up. The same people planning the town center, are the same people who own the clown and the supermarket chain the clown belongs to, the Azzolina family, so really it's out of our hands.

[Diane R., 11/22/2007]

The Evil Clown was given a fresh coat of paint in 2011, and the Azzolina family now promises to preserve it. Other acreage has been cleared, and whenever local elections are imminent the Town Square issue rears up. The only change to the clown we've noticed is the restoration of his original "SAVE" lettering, replacing an ill-considered contemporary sign for "Circus Fresh Food Experience." The notoriety generated by the development project helped the clown to survive as a historical landmark (as suggested in the scale model, on display locally since 2001, where it is depicted hanging from the side of an imagined building in Utopian Middletown).

Middletown Clown sign.

Patriotic Middleclown

The Evil Clown of Middletown still stands, and is looking fantastic! I expected to find him bulldozed and gone like so many of the attractions I had yet to visit. The good news is he is no longer forced to hold up the Middletown Town Square sign which, hopefully, means that the town square project is dead and the clown gets to stay right where he is. There is another ray of hope as well. The clown is now used to display a flag!

Who in these times (especially so close to NYC) would possibly tear down something as patriotic as a clown? May the clown live forever.

[Greg Brown, 11/10/2001]

Nearby Offbeat Places

Vito Genovese's Mount Vesuvius VolcanoVito Genovese's Mount Vesuvius Volcano, Middletown, NJ - 2 mi.
The Spy HouseThe Spy House, Port Monmouth, NJ - 3 mi.
Quick Stop seen in the movie Quick Stop seen in the movie "Clerks", Leonardo, NJ - 3 mi.
In the region:
American Girl Doll Hair Salon, New York, NY - 26 mi.

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