The past 30 years or so have seen a surge in the popularity of evil, Joker-style Monster Clowns who deliberately and very effectively invert everything clowns were traditionally assumed to represent - that is, making people laugh, especially children. However, there was a time when clowns were treated in the popular media as sympathetic figures of whimsy and silly fun. Pretty much the only clown left in the public eye who is still permitted to act at all clown-like is Ronald McDonald. (And now that he's being phased out of the advertising, we don't even have him anymore.) But in days past...