The
Howdy Doody Show was one of the first and easily the most popular
children's television show in the 1950s and a reflection of the
wonder, technical fascination, and business realities associated
with early television. While Howdy and his friends entertained American
children, they also sold television sets to American parents and
demonstrated the potential of the new medium to advertisers.
The idea for Howdy Doody began on the NBC New York radio
affiliate WEAF in 1947 with a program called The Triple B Ranch.
The three Bs stood for Big Brother Bob Smith, who developed the
country bumpkin voice of a ranch hand and greeted the radio audience
with, "Oh, ho, ho, howdy doody." Martin Stone, Smith's agent, suggested
putting Howdy on television and presented the idea to NBC televi-sion
programming head Warren Wade. With Stone and Roger Muir as producers,
Smith launched Puppet Playhouse on 17 December 1947. Within
a week the name of the program was changed to The Howdy Doody
Show.
Children
loved the Doodyville inhabitants, because they were a skillfully
created, diverse collection of American icons. The original Howdy
marionette was designed by Frank Paris and in keeping with Smith's
voice was a country bumpkin; however, in a dispute over licensing
rights Paris left the show with the puppet. The new Howdy, who premiered
in March 1948 was an all-American boy with red hair, forty-eight
freckles (one for each state in the Union), and a permanent smile.
Howdy's face symbolized the youthful energy of the new medium and
appeared on the NBC color test pattern beginning in 1954.
Smith
treated the marionettes as if they were real, and as a result, so
did the children of America. Among the many unusual marionettes
on the show was Phineas T. Bluster, Doodyville's entrepreneurial
mayor. Howdy's grumpy nemesis, Bluster had eyebrows that shot straight
up when he was surprised. Bluster's naive, high-school-aged accomplice,
was Dilly Dally, who wiggled his ears when he was frustrated. Flub-a-dub
was a whimsical character who was a combination of eight animals.
In Howdy and Me, Smith notes, "Howdy, Mr. Bluster, Dilly,
and the Flub-a-Dub gave the impression that they could cut their
strings, saunter off the stage, and do as they pleased."
Although
the live characters, particularly the native Americans Chief Thunderthud
and Princess Summerfall Winterspring, were by modern standards stereotypical
and often clownish, each had a rich heritage interwoven into the
stories. These were prepared by Eddie Kean, who wrote the scripts
and the songs until 1954, and Willie Gilbert and Jack Weinstock,
who wrote scripts and song lyrics thereafter. For example, Smith
(born in Buffalo, New York) was transformed into Buffalo Bob when
he took his place in the story as the great white leader of the
Sigafoose tribe. Chief Thunderthud (played by Bill LeCornec) of
the mythical Ooragnak tribe ("Kangaroo" spelled backward) introduced
the word "Kawabonga," an expression of surprise and frustration,
into the English language. One of the few female characters in the
cast was the beloved Princess Summerfall Winterspring of the Tinka
Tonka tribe, who was first introduced as a puppet, then transformed
into a real, live princess, played by Judy Tyler.
The
Howdy Doody Show also reflected America's fascination with
technology. Part of the fun and fantasy of Doodyville were crazy
machines such as the Electromindomizer that read minds and the Honkadoodle
that translated Mother Goose's honks into English. Television's
technical innovations were also incorporated into the show. On 23
June 1949 split-screen capabilities were used to join Howdy in Chicago
with Buffalo Bob in New York, one of the first instances of a cross-country
connection. Howdy also ushered in NBC's daily color programming
in 1955.
The
Howdy Doody Show was immediately successful and was NBC's
first daily show to be extended to five days a week. In 1952 NBC
launched a network radio program featuring Howdy, and in 1954 Howdy
Doody became an international television hit with a Cuban and
a Canadian show, using duplicate puppets and local talent, including
Robert Goulet as Canadian host, Timber Tom.
As
amazing as it may now seem, there were published concerns over violent
content in Howdy Doody, but though the action in Doodyville
generally involved slapstick, parents generally supported the show.
Much of the mayhem was perpetrated by a lovable, mischievous clown
named Clarabell Hornblow. Clarabell was played by Bob Keeshan who
later become Captain Kangaroo. His pratfalls were generally accidents,
and the most lethal weapon on the show was his seltzer bottle. Moreover,
educational material was consciously incorporated both into the
songs and the stories; for example young viewers received a lesson
in government when Howdy ran for President of the kids of America
in 1948. The educational features of the program made the Doodyville
characters attractive personal promoters both for the show and for
the sale of television sets.
And
even before the advent of the Nielsen ratings, Howdy Doody
demonstrated its ability to draw an audience both for NBC and for
possible advertisers. In 1948, children's shows were often provided
as a public service either by the networks or the stations. When
Howdy ran for President of all the kids, Muir suggested that they
offer free campaign buttons. They received 60,000 requests, representing
one-third of the American homes with television sets. Within a week
their advertising time was sold out to major advertisers, such as
Colgate Palmolive Peat Company. Although the producers were careful
about what they advertised, they were very aggressive about marketing
products they selected, incorporating product messages into songs
and skits.
The
producers also recognized the potential for merchandising. In 1949
the first Howdy Doody comic book was published by Dell and the first
Howdy Doody record was released, selling 30,000 copies in its first
week. There were also Howdy Doody wind-up toys, a humming lariat,
a beanie, and T-shirts, among other licensed products.
Although
extremely popular, the demise of The Howdy Doody Show demonstrated
the financial realities of the new medium. In 1956 the early evening
time slot became more attractive to older consumers, and the show
was moved to Saturday morning. Although it continued to receive
high ratings, the expense was eventually its downfall, and it was
taken off the air on 24 September 1960, after 2,343 programs.
The
most famous moment in the history of The Howdy Doody Show
came during the closing seconds of the final show when Clarabell,
who did not speak but communicated through pantomime and honking
his horns, surprised the audience by saying, "Good-bye, kids." The
reality continues to be that the rich, live-action performances
that filled early children's programming are too costly for modern,
commercial television. The show was briefly brought back to television
as The New Howdy Doody Show in August 1976, but was canceled
in January 1977, after only 130 episodes.
-Suzanne
Rautiolla-Williams
Davis, Stephen. "It's Howdy Doody Time." Television Quarterly
(New York), Summer 1988.
_______________.
Say Kids! What Time Is It? Boston: Little, Brown, 1987.
Fischer,
Stuart. "Howdy Doody." Kids TV: The First Twenty-Five Years.
New York: Facts on File, l983.
Gould,
Jack. "Hail Howdy Doody!" New York Times, 14 November 1948.
Grossman,
Gary H. Saturday Morning TV. New York: Dell, 1981.
Smith,
Buffalo Bob, and Donna McCrohan. Howdy and Me. New York:
Penguin, 1990.
Stewart,
R. W. "Busy Bob Smith." i, 2 May 1948. "Television Reviews: Puppet
Television Theatre." Variety (Los Angeles), 31 December 1947.
