Howdy Doody Guide

Merchandise and advertising promotionals depicted Howdy Doody and character puppet and human friends can be found on a wide variety of items. Whether he was running for President of All Kids or promoting Purple Cows for Welchs Grape Juice...Howdy Doody was in high demand, and remains in high demand by vintage collectors nationwide. Items were copyrighted by Buffalo Bob Smith from 1948-1951, Kagran Corporation from 1951-1959, and NBC after 1960. In January of 1950, the U.S. alloted patent number 156,687 to Howdy Doody. Some of the sponsers of the NBC show were: Poll-Parrot Shoes, Ovaltine, Mars candy, Colgate, Wonder Bread, Welch's Grape Juice, Kellogg's cereals, Blue Bonnet Margarine, Palmolive, Royal Pudding, Luden's, Nabisco cereals, Ideal toys, and Continental Baking. The show left television in 1960, but remains a true favorite, and vintage collectibles are sought daily.

History

Howdy Doody was a children's television program that aired on NBC from 1947 through 1960. The show was exteremely popular and is a fond memory for many baby boomers. Originally an hour on Saturdays, the show moved to Monday through Friday, 5:30-6:00 PM EST in 1948. In 1956, it returned to Saturday in a morning timeslot. Beginning in 1954, the NBC test pattern featured a picture of Howdy.

The show's host was "Buffalo Bob" (Bob Smith, 1917-1998), who wore cowboy garb. A distinctive feature was the "peanut gallery", on-stage bleachers seating about 40 kids. Each show began with Bob asking, "Say kids, what time is it?" and the kids yelling in unison, "It's Howdy Doody Time!"

Howdy Doody himself was a freckle-faced boy marionette, and was voiced by Bob Smith. Other puppet characters included Heidi Doody (Howdy's sister), Mr. Bluster, Dilly Dally, Princess Summerfall Winterspring, and the curious Flub-a-Dub (a combination of eight animals).

There also were several human characters, most notably Clarabell the clown, who communicated by honking horns on his belt and squirting seltzer, and Chief Thunderthud, who originated the cry "Kowabunga!". Princess Summerfall Winterspring, originally a puppet, was later played by the actress, Judy Tyler. The characters inhabited the fictional town of "Doodyville".

Clarabell was first played by Bob Keeshan, who continued in that role until 1949. Keeshan later became Captain Kangaroo. At the end of the final episode, Clarabell (then played by Lew Anderson) broke his series-long silence to sadly say, "Goodbye, kids".

The New Howdy Doody Show aired from August 1976 to January 1977 in syndication.

In 1954 Canadian and Cuban spin-off shows were licensed using local casts and duplicate puppets.

The Canadian Howdy Doody show starred James Doohan and later Peter Mews as forest ranger Timber Tom who corresponded to Buffalo Bob in the U.S. version. That Robert Goulet played this part is an error that sometimes appears. The show looked much cheaper than the U.S. counterpart and seemed watered-down with less raucous plots and less villanous villains. Yet some of the stories were very evocative, almost stepping into high fantasy, often with Dilly Dally as an everyman hero who muddled through and did the right thing. It ended in 1959.

Character List

Howdy Doody
Clarabell the Clown
Princess Summerfall Winterspring
Mayor Bluster
Captain Scuttlebutt
Heidi Doody
Flub-A-Dub
Chief Thundercloud
Dilly Dally
Inspector Fadoozle
Don Jose Bluster
Hector Hamcock Bluster
Grandpa Doody
Mother Goose
Sandra Witch
Tommy the Turtle
Mambo the Elephant

When collecting...be sure to check condition!! Repairs and/or restringing will affect the value greatly. Values of items depicting Clarabell, Princess Summerfall Winterspring, Flub-A-Dub, Dilly Dally and others are sometimes higher due to limited productions and scarcity. Never overlook these guys when out looking! (FYI: Princess Summerfall Winterspring was first portrayed by a human actress...then later as a puppet.)