Florida Memory is administered by the Florida Department of State, Division of Library and Information Services, Bureau of Archives and Records Management. The digitized records on Florida Memory come from the collections of the State Archives of Florida and the special collections of the State Library of Florida.
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Image Number
Photographer
Date
Collection
N2011- 7, Photographic collection, 1930s-1970s; Box 9
Geographic Term
Subject Term
Community culture--Florida--Sarasota County--Sarasota
Entertainment
Occupational groups--Florida--Sarasota County--Sarasota
Service industries--Florida--Sarasota County--Sarasota
Tourism--Florida--Sarasota County--Sarasota
Attractions--Florida--Sarasota County--Sarasota
Amusements--Florida--Sarasota County--Sarasota
Circus--Florida--Sarasota County--Sarasota
Baths
Costume
Theatrical makeup
Circus workers
Circus performers
Clowns
Entertainers--Florida--Sarasota County--Sarasota
Personal Subjects
Corporate Subject
Physical Description
General Note
Shown as his hobo tramp pantomine character "Weary Willie".
Photo taken as a favor to Kelly, who wanted the image for his Christmas card. Joe's wife, Lois Foley Steinmetz, was crouched down out of sight behind the chair that held Kelly's clothing, with an egg beater in her hand. After every shot Joe took, Lois would leap out of hiding, use the egg beater to increase the foam in the tub, and conceal herself once again.
Biographical Note
Joseph Janney Steinmetz was a world-renowned commercial photographer whose images appeared in such publications as the Saturday Evening Post, Life, Look, Time, Holiday, Collier's, and Town & Country. His work has been referred to as "an American social history," which documented diverse scenes of American life from affluent northeasterners to middle-class Floridians. Steinmetz moved from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Sarasota, Florida in 1941.
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Creator
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General Note
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Subject - Person
Subject - Corporate
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Chicago Manual of Style
Steinmetz, Joseph Janney, 1905-1985. Ringling Circus clown Emmett Kelly in a bubble bath. 1955. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. <https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/245953>, accessed 9 June 2026.
MLA
Steinmetz, Joseph Janney, 1905-1985. Ringling Circus clown Emmett Kelly in a bubble bath. 1955. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. Accessed 9 Jun. 2026.<https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/245953>
AP Style Photo Citation
(State Archives of Florida/Steinmetz)
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