... traditional Christmas as any other things— Christmas pudding and turkey. Sketching the history of pantomime, he spoke of Joseph Grimaldi. who invented the conventional clown's costume, which was in reality a burlesque of the dress the dandies of those days ...

... and in the 18th century the clowns harlequin and columbine were introduced. The most famous English pantomime clown was Joseph Grimaldi. Much of the fun and frolic of the shows has in recent years been replaced by spectacle. ...