Another unique and happy childhood memory shared by many of us who grew up in our little town in the 1950s or early 1960s was Jolly Jazzbo, our very own home town clown.
  
Born May 13, 1927, and a resident of Oceanside for over 36 years from the age of 18 months until 1965, Edmund A. Tester, Sr. was almost a native of our little town. He lived at 33 Fairview Avenue, one street south of Davison Avenue (behind the library), and was a member of our school's class of 1946.
  
Most of us knew him only as Jazzbo, a professional clown and magician (also an artist) who appeared annually from 1947 to 1960 in the streets of our little town in our popular  Memorial Day parades and at other local community events, usually in his colorful clown car that was known as the "JAZZMOBILE," a 1930 Model A Ford that Jazzbo told me bought in 1953 for $65.

The day before his 80th birthday, I had the great pleasure of interviewing Jazzbo by telephone at his home in Suffolk County, Long Island. I found him to be quite cheerful, talkative, sharp, energetic and enthusiastic about his time in Oceanside, his many memories and his life, then and now, despite some troubles from time-to-time. (He, his wife and his son are all cancer survivors.) He was utterly charming and delightful.

The 80 year-old Jazzbo told me he remembers everything ― and he proceeded to prove it. Here are selected parts of our conversation:
   

I believe many people of Oceanside remember you fondly, and that they would enjoy recapturing some of those memories by reading about you on the worldwide web. And I believe you deserve to continue to be remembered.
         
Tell me, how did you get the name, “Jazzbo”?
         
 

I was a very sharp dresser in school ... so the other fellas called me 'jazzy.' After I started clowning in jr. high, someone introduced me in a show as “that man about town, that great Jazzy Bo.”

HOWIE:

What were some of the unusual things you did when appearing in our Oceanside Memorial Day parades?
         

In the early days of the parade after WWII, I created floats for it, like Iwo Jima. Sometimes, I wore costumes other than my clown clothes, for example, General Douglas MacArthur.

HOWIE:

Did anyone pay you for that?
         

No, it was all volunteer work, a labor of love.

How were you able to drive the JAZZMOBILE with those big clown shoes on?
         

With great difficulty. It wasn’t easy.

HOWIE:

What other types of community or other local events might people remember seeing you at in the 1950s?
         

Mostly Kiwanis Club events. Once, I appeared as the Frankenstein monster. In 1957, I also organized the first daytime community-sponsored Halloween celebration for the Oceanside Recreation Department. I appeared at children’s birthday parties all over New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Why was your identity kept secret when you played Clarabell?
         

I made personal appearances as Clarabell for several years when Bobby Nicholson* was playing him on the TV show. Bob Smith wanted the world to think there was only one Clarabell.

One last question. How would you like to be remembered by the Oceanside residents of the 1950s, particularly the kids?
         

If I left my audience laughing, I was happy. I loved Oceanside.

*

EDITOR'S NOTE: A search through available internet and other published sources identified only three actors who played Clarabell during the history of the Howdy Doody Show from 1947 to 1960 (or subsequently), none of whom were Edmund Tester. They were Bob Keeshan (who later became Captain Kangaroo), Bobby Nicholson and Lew Anderson, in that order.