8 • The Southwest Portland Post
OBITUARY
September 2015
Jim Allen’s ’Rusty Nails’ remembered as a gentle clown
By KC Cowan
The Southwest Portland Post
The prelude at Jim Allen’s memorial
service was a selection of Allen’s
favorite songs. It should have surprised
no one present that one of the songs was
“Send in the Clowns.”
A Southwest Portland resident, Allen
had an alter ego that was beloved and
well known to any local Baby Boomer.
Allen was Rusty Nails, the clown who
entertained kids on his own television
show from 1957 to 1974. Allen died July
28, 2015, at the age of 87.
According to his daughter, Allen had
wanted to be a clown after seeing rodeo
clowns at the Portland Exposition
Center.
“At age nine he was offered a chance
to be in a talent show and from that he
began getting into clowning and magic
and that led to doing appearances at the
local movie theatre,” Jody Allen said.
By age 16, Allen had fully developed
his character, Rusty Nails, a gentle,
friendly clown with a pumpkin-orange
thatch of a wig, giant (real leather)
shoes, and an oversized bow-tie that
always matched his plaid
pants.
Allen had a radio show, “The
Jimmy Allen Scrapbook,” before
taking the story-telling program
to television. It ultimately
developed into the Rusty Nails
show.
Allen was a true pioneer in
the television industry, and
always wanted his show to be
something for the whole family.
“He was very attracted to
cartoons, and he loved the idea
of clowning around in a family
atmosphere so that it was safe to
watch,” said Jody Allen. “And
that the parents could enjoy the
show and the kids would love
the antics.”
Alpenrose Dairy was the original
sponsor of the Rusty Nails show. Carl
Cadonau Jr., co-owner of the three-
generation dairy, has vivid memories of
his father dressing him up in “whites”
like the milk deliverymen, and taking
him down to the television studio.
“My job was to hand out chocolate milk
to the kids in the audience,” Cadonau
recalled.
By the mid 1960’s, Alpenrose was
doing a lot of promotional events at
local grocery stores, and Rusty Nails
was front and center, putting on magic
and puppet shows. Allen’s daughter,
Jody, often appeared in the shows, too,
as Penny Nails.
Over the years, the link between Rusty
Nails and Alpenrose Dairy became more
solid, with Rusty performing in the
Fourth of July pageants, doing funny
skits between historical segments, and at
the dairy’s “Fun-days Sundays.”
Cadonau said Rusty was willing to
try anything, even when the acts could
be dangerous, such as the exploding
barn skit.
“We put the small barn up in the center
of the arena with an escape hatch below.
He would get into it and light a fuse and
it would explode,” Cadonau said.
“My cousin and I were in charge of
the explosives in that thing and a time or
two we put in too much and when Rusty
walked out, he was staggering a bit. He
was concussed.”
“He was part of our family, that’s for
sure,” he added. “When I look back on
the things (the dairy has) done, he was
a big part of our growth, no question
about it.”
Cadonau says Rusty had a cult
following, and when he’d meet people
and tell them he was with Alpenrose
Dairy, they’d usually ask about Rusty.
The secret to the clown’s success was
how approachable and friendly he was.
There was nothing scary about Rusty.
Jim Allen performed as Rusty
Nails until his late 70s, and his last
performance was a 2006 Christmas show
at the Alpenrose Opera House. When the
economy crashed in 2007/2008, the dairy
didn’t have the money to do the show, so
Rusty retired.
“I don’t know that he ever said goodbye
to Rusty, though,” said Jody Allen. “He
thought he was just taking a break.”
He traveled with his wife, but in his 80s
Allen’s health began to fail and he lost his
eyesight. He never lost his spirit, sense of
humor or devout faith, according to his
family. When he wasn’t clowning, Allen
was an ordained minister and traveling
pastor.
Allen and his wife, Georgia, raised
four children in Southwest Portland who
attended Wilson High School.
At the memorial, his children and
grandchildren praised him as a loving
family man with a great sense of humor.
One friend, a clown who was mentored
by Rusty, perhaps summed it up best:
“He brought out the child in all of us, and
put a smile on all our faces.”
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