OXNARD : Travel Writer Helps Museum Clown Around

Bill Carter has never been in the circus, but he always travels with a clown.

The Oxnard travel writer began collecting clowns 10 years ago, when he decided he wanted some souvenirs of his trips around the world.

Now he is sharing the treasures from his travels with Ventura County youths by displaying them at the Gull Wing Children’s Museum.

Carter’s clowns are on display in a 10-foot-long case, tucked between fossils discovered in the local hills and the Ventura County Gem and Mineral Society’s quartz collection.

For Carter, 63, the clowns have more sentimental than monetary value.

“I’ve been collecting them as a lark,” he said. “They’re just something that makes me smile.”

He began his collection in Serifos, Greece, when he came upon a tiny green plastic cup that could mold ice cream into the shape of a clown’s face. He kept the cup and began his search for other clowns.

While writing four travel books and numerous travel articles, Carter has collected clowns from Spain, the Netherlands and Great Britain.

His collection includes a jack-in-the-box that ejects Bozo the clown, a porcelain clown figurine from Harrods in London, and dolls he has picked up for a nickel at garage sales in the United States.

Museum volunteers who are putting the final touches on the exhibit say it draws a second look from many museum visitors.

“It catches the eyes of many parents first,” docent Marian Jessup said. “They say, ‘I had one of those once.’ Then they sit down with their kids and tell them about the clowns.”

The exhibit is a permanent collection at the museum, which is open from 1 to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday with the exception of Saturday, when the museum opens at 10 a.m.