Saturday, August 16, 2008

J.P. Patches Lands in Fremont

J.P. Patches - Seattle clown

Last night we were eating at Blue Moon Burgers in the technology-canal-alley in Fremont (Adobe, Getty, Google, etc. reside there) when we discovered a new statue is to be unveiled in this corporate-park-lite (sorry, it’s not up to Fremont-funky yet). The new statues are just a couple of steps away from the (in)famous Waiting for the Interurban and a bit further from the Fremont Troll, Lenin, and the Rocket.

The new statue is a tribute to J.P. Patches the Clown. Who? J.P. Patches (aka Julius Pierpont Patches) was a clown portrayed by Seattle entertainer Chris Wedes (born 1928). The J.P. Patches show was the longest-running children’s television show in the U.S., appearing on Seattle’s KIRO channel for 23 years from 1958 to 1981. Its improv-nature and double entendres must have been a hit because the show is fondly remembered by several generations. We never saw it having moved to Seattle in the early 1990s. Sigh, non-natives just don’t understand. Well, we hope the statue is a smashing success and what’s not to like about some public art? Well some self-appointed hipsters already don’t like it – but the Stranger generally hates most anything that doesn’t pertain to sex.

Here is the kickoff video from last year with the mayor of Seattle.

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