The clown craze gripping America has roots that go deeper than Bozo's oversized shoes.

Yes, clowns have been spotted in Wisconsin, in Iowa, in Massachusetts, in Maine, in Wyoming, in Maine again and in Michigan, to name but a few of the nearly 50 states where they've been reported. They're jamming our newsfeeds like a Kia carrying a dozen clowns at the circus.

So, yes, clowns are popping up faster than Starbucks and terrifying people like Democrats and many Republicans fearing a Trump administration. Clowns themselves are getting a bad rap -- so bad that there's even been a Clown Lives Matter march set up to show regular folks that they're not all evil.

The truth is clown sightings go back years. Some say it dates back to John Wayne Gacy, the charity clown who murdered dozens in the 1970s, but the idea of dressing as a clown to scare someone may trace its roots back to early 19th century England, where Joseph Grimaldi portrayed an immensely popular clown who set the tone for what a clown should look like.

That set the stage for clowns being not just jovial, but dark and frightening, an image that is currently haunting Americans right now and maybe leading to a decrease in actual working clowns.

What do you think? Will this trend of clown sightings end and will being a clown ever be a viable job again?

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