In memoriam: Showfolks of America, 1945

In memoriam: Showfolks of America, 1945, a photo by killah.poopface on Flickr.

On my Colma sojourn this week I also visited this memorial for circus folks in Olivet Memorial Park cemetery. It was suggested to me by a fun iphone app I have that tells you about interesting things nearby, called Roadside USA. Anyway, it is interesting for sure but super sad – I mean, dead clowns is pretty much as sad as it gets.  Clowns and everyone else who work so hard to make people happy and laugh!  Of course it is nice for circus folk to be buried close to each other. But Roadside America says it exists because of a horrible train accident in 1918 that killed some 86 circus people:

“Circus dead are buried across America, and clusters of these deceased entertainers can be found in sections of a number of cemeteries. But Colma’s is special — one man who directed us to it called it ‘Clown Alley.’

The Circus section of Olivet Memorial Park was dedicated in 1918 after a horrific train accident in Hammond, Indiana. The focal point is a large stone monument with a brightly painted scene under a circus tent: a cityscape in the background, a giant clown head, carousel and other rides in the foreground.”

It didn’t make sense to me that people would be buried so far away from the accident in Indiana, and some internet searching seems to indicate that a lot of people killed in that accident are in fact buried at Showmen’s Rest, a section of Woodlawn Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois.

But wow – there are other cemeteries nationwide with sections dedicated to circus folk. So wonderful! After spending their whole lives living and working together, it seems right that they not be scattered in death.

I had no idea. Never would have thought about it. For that, I blame, in part, San Francisco’s ban on cemeteries – makes it easier not to think about death and related realities. Although at this time of year, it is pretty omnipresent. And perhaps that is how I found myself to the necropolis that is Colma this week.

RIP Tofu

RIP Tofu, a photo by killah.poopface on Flickr.

Yesterday I visited the Pet’s Rest Pet Cemetery in Colma, just south of San Francisco. I have always wanted to visit Colma for I find cemeteries really interesting, often beautiful, always peaceful and quiet, and pretty helpful in learning new ways of thinking about death and loss. Even of animals.

It was really interesting to see what people name their pets!

And to see that many cultures in the Bay Area devote a lot of time, energy, and money to their pets’ graves. We never had that kind of money, growing up, for a pet cemetery for our beloved pets – an albino guinea pig, Lollipop, and a kitty, Mr. Cinnamon.

I didn’t realize until visiting cemeteries in Mexico that one could plant flowers on a grave – not just use the little flower holder thing for some cut flowers like at the cemeteries I was used to seeing in Maryland, but really go all out, planting a garden, basically, on the plot. I love that.

I love this grave the most at Pet’s Rest, I think. Also because the little guy (gal? I will stick with guy for some reason) was named Tofu, and his picture is on the grave (another thing I never saw in Maryland cemeteries) and he is cute and is clearly much loved.

Also, Colma is a trip! I learned so much more about it from watching Colma! The Musical, which is awesome and hilarious and sad, and indeed a musical. A lot going on there. It was super strange to actually experience being in a tiny town – fewer than 2,000 people live there – where most of what you see is graves, since 1.5 million people are buried there. Since the City and County of San Francisco banned burials in the city and did a mass relocation of graves to Colma in the early 1900s, Colma was founded as a ncropolis! in 1924. Which is crazy to me.  The town slogan is “It’s great to be alive in Colma!” It is quite odd to drive past cemetery after cemetery for miles, with a driving range and casino interspersed but mostly so many graves…16 cemeteries! One after another! Lining both sides of the road! Even a Serbian Cemetery! I visited a few, but will have to go back.