For National Taffy Day: The Magic Clown

May 23 is National Taffy Day.

The word taffy is a variant on the English word toffee, and though today we think of them as quite different candies, both words have always been used with a certain amount of imprecision.

In the U.S. typically we are thinking of a soft, chewy candy, originally molasses-based, which can be pulled and stretched.

Salt Water Taffy originated in Atlantic City in the 1880s.

Turkish Taffy was invented in Newark in 1912, but gained prominence with its acquisition by Coney Island’s Bonomo family 1936, which had been selling Salt Water Taffy for three decades. Turkish Taffy differs from other variations in initially being brittle, so that it will shatter if smacked against a hard surface. When placed in the mouth and warmed it eventually softens and become chewable like ordinary taffy. For years, Woolworth’s had an exclusive distribution deal; it became more widely available in mass produced bar form in the 1940s.

In 1949, Bonomo sponsored one of the first nationally televised children’s shows, The Magic Clown. Starring a clown/magician named Zovello (Josh Norris), aided by a hand puppet named Taffy, the show was essentially one long infomercial for Turkish Taffy. And yet, like the candy it sold so relentlessly, it lasted a long time. In 1952 a comedian named Dick Dubois took over for Zovello as star. Two years later NBC dropped the show, but it moved to local New York station WABD, affiliated with the Dumont Network. Then it moved to WNTA in Newark with Doug Anderson as the clown, now called Bonomo. The show ended in 1959 after a ten year run. In 1970 a syndicated version was tried starring the one and only James Randi.

The original Turkish Taffy was sold until 1989. It was later reintroduced in 2010. The official website is here.

There are many clips from the original Magic Clown show available to watch on Youtube. The little I’ve seen does not reflect glory upon clowns, magic, television, or taffy.

For more on show biz history, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, And please stay tuned for my upcoming Electric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety.