THE BALLOON MAN

Electric organ used on 'Bozo's Circus' TV show headed for museum

Chicago marketing executive David Plier made the winning, $3,000 bid for this electric organ that had been used on "Bozo's Circus." (May 4, 2011)
By Ameet Sachdev, Chicago Tribune Reporter
May 4, 2011
David Plier, a Chicago marketing executive, grew up watching "Bozo's Circus," and now he owns a piece of the children's show. But he doesn't plan to keep it.
Plier was the winning bidder of an electric organ used on "Bozo's Circus" at an auction Monday at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. His $3,000 bid bested other in-person and absentee offers.
While Plier has a fondness for all things Bozo, the 43-year-old does not plan to keep the organ as a memento of the long-running show, which WGN-TV stopped broadcasting in 2001. He said he will donate the instrument to Chicago's Museum of Broadcast Communications, where he has served on the board for nearly eight years.
The organ will join the museum's other Bozo artifacts, which include a bass drum, costumes and the Grand Prize Game. The museum plans to create an exhibit around "Bozo's Circus" in its new facility being built in the River North neighborhood, Plier said.
"It was a few bucks more than I wanted to spend," Plier said. "But the thought of it ending up in a private collection or in someone's basement was really bugging me. It seems to belong where it's going."read more at:http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-state-dream-act-0505-20110504,0,4942631.story