Welcome to Retell Seller, an ephemera podcast where I uncover forgotten stories and the ephemera people leave behind. I’m Angie, a reseller of 10 years, and I’ll share one of those snippets with you. Let’s see what today’s find has to say.
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I feel the need to say there’s a part a little later in the episode where I talk about the loss of Red’s son, so just wanted to give you a heads-up in case you’d rather not listen to those types of stories.
I’ve known of Red Skelton by name, but I never really knew him or what he was all about.
What started the idea for the episode is a giant coloring book by Red Skelton featuring his clown drawings and some poetry. It’s called Clown Alley, published by Gravette.
It’s from 1975, measuring about 17 by 22 inches, and I picked this up quite some time ago. Uh, first I’ll talk a bit about Red, but do know that there’s much more information about him than what I’m gonna talk about here, and I’ll be sure to leave some various links, where you can find more information.
Red Skelton was a well-loved radio and TV personality, as well as an artist, and he was born in 1913, and his father, who was a clown in the circus, had died only two months before Red was born.
The story goes around 13, 14 years old, he met comedian Ed Wynn, who invited Red behind the scenes of a performance that Ed was doing along with other acts, and this is believed to be when Red became interested in becoming an entertainer.
And throughout the ’30s and ’40s, he was doing radio, TV, film, and building a career. He ended up at NBC hosting The Red Skelton Show, and eventually, due to the demands of performing live each week, along with pain he had been suffering from, on account of a diaphragmatic hernia, Red began drinking pretty heavily.
NBC agreed to begin filming the shows instead of lives, but due to declining viewership, the show ended up being canceled in 1953, and he then moved to CBS, where he’d remain until 1970. Red and his second wife, Georgia, had a son, Richard, and daughter, Valentina.
In 1957, at nine years old, Richard was diagnosed with leukemia,and the little bit I read about Richard, it seemed like he was a pretty wise, funny kid. Uh, Red would usually talk about his kids on the show, but after Richard’s diagnosis, he found it hard to, and Richard apparently encouraged him to keep telling stories about him and his sister.
Red also wanted Richard to see as much of the world as possible and ensure that he had a happy life, so he decided to take the family for a long trip. And when they arrived in London, Richard was quoted as saying, “I am feeling fine, and what I came here to do was to see whether London Bridge really falls down.”
Wikipedia said Red had to cut the trip short in London due to a, quote, “aggressive reporter,” and basically a backlash of negative reporting in the British papers about how instead of just being a family trip, creating memories. It was one big publicity stunt, and unfortunately, Richard was seeing and hearing all of this.
Richard told a reporter, referring to his sickness, “It’s all right. I know about it. Everybody says I’m going to die, but that means everybody but me.” Later in the same article, being that Richard was surrounded by so many people, he yelled out that he didn’t wanna talk with anyone.
On May 12th, 1957, less than a year and just 10 days before his 10th birthday, Richard died. He was in the hospital when it happened, and Skelton had told papers in part, “When we got back in the room, Richard asked us all to kiss him.” He asked Valentina to kiss him, too. “I remember Richard said, ‘Hurry up, Valentina, I haven’t got all day.’ The little fellow knew all right, but he didn’t show it. He didn’t cry.”
Red was a big supporter of Shriners Hospital, and the Spokane, Washington location has a “notable guest” list on their site where Red is listed, with a few others.
As a result of Red’s popularity, he got two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for radio, one for TV. He also had imprints of his hands made outside of Grauman Theatre, which I spoke a little bit about in a previous episode.
Red had started painting in the 1940s, but also never told anyone. He had his first showing of his art in Las Vegas in 1964, and he was known for painting clowns.
I found the article with a photo of Red and the president of Gravette Publishing where Red was signing the contract for the publication of the giant coloring book I have.
It also said how Red was the author of several children’s books featuring his own artwork, as well as unpublished songs and symphonies he’d not published before.
The giant coloring book I have has a cartoon-looking clown with a smirky grin. He has orange hair, a white outfit, wearing a hat, His nose is red, and he has a single black line of face paint drawn down the center of his top and bottom eyelids.
The black cloth tape holding it together, it’s coming off at the bottom and the top.
There’s some staining, some decent-sized scuffs, gouges, scratches. Some of the pages have been colored in or at least started with some bleed-through from the use of markers. the cover says Red Skelton’s Story Coloring Book, Clown Alley, a Gravette Giant.
I’ll read a few of the poems. The first is called Tramp with Flower. “Lovely, lovely little flower, how I thank you for this hour. You’re as beautiful as can be, and your beauty detracts from me.”
Next is called Cigar. “Good cigars are hard to find. It takes eyesight and lots of time. To find a long one, my eye strains. I find none at all when it rains. This is a goodie, but it took all day. I thought he’d never throw it away.”
Girl is the next title. “I’m a happy girl clown all dressed to get a fellow. Sailor’s straw, blue striped shirt, and a coat of lemon yellow. But when I find one with my witty craft, they don’t fall in love with me. They only stand and laugh.”
Lastly, this one’s called Blue Hat. “How gentle is life with bird that sings. How gentle are people who color pretty things.”
Red Skelton died September 17th, 1997 at 84 of pneumonia,
Someone had once asked Red why he painted clowns, and he replied, “I don’t know why it’s always clowns.” And after some more thought, he said, No, that’s not true. I do know why. I just don’t feel like thinking about it
Thank you for joining me as I shared a snippet of the past. I’d love to know if it connected with you in some way. Did it spark a memory or make you see something differently? If so, consider sharing it. Be sure to check out the show notes for additional info, links, and ways to connect. It’s not nostalgia, it’s human. Until next time, may you find something worth holding on to.
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pinny please
