Howdy Doody

Did You Know?

• The original Howdy Doody marionette had 48 freckles, one for each state in the union at the time of his creation.
• Frank Paris, the first puppeteer, once stormed out of NBC with the puppet four hours before a live broadcast, leading to a storyline about Howdy getting plastic surgery.

Story

Buffalo Bob Smith originated Howdy Doody as a voice he performed on WNBC radio. When Smith appeared on NBC's Puppet Playhouse on December 27, 1947, the character's reception prompted demand for a visual puppet. Frank Paris, a puppeteer whose puppets appeared on the program, was asked to create the Howdy Doody puppet. Smith, the host, was dubbed 'Buffalo Bob' early in the run, referencing the historical figure Buffalo Bill and Smith's hometown of Buffalo, New York. The set initially was a circus tent but soon changed to a western town, with Smith and the puppet wearing cowboy garb. The name 'Howdy Doody' derived from the expression 'howdy doody' or 'howdy do', a corruption of 'How do you do?' used in the western United States and Britain. Smith, who began as a singing radio personality in Buffalo, frequently used music on the program. Cast members Lew Anderson and Robert 'Nick' Nicholson were experienced jazz musicians. As popularity grew, demand for Howdy Doody merchandise emerged by 1948. Macy's department store contacted Frank Paris about rights for a doll, but Smith owned the character rights. An argument ensued, and Paris took the puppet and left the NBC studios about four hours before a live broadcast, leaving the program without its star.

Howdy Doody

The original Howdy Doody marionette, with his red hair, was controlled by eleven strings attached to two head points, one mouth, one eye, two shoulders, one back, two hands, and two knees. When the show returned, three more strings were added for two elbows and one nose. That original puppet now lives at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Duplicate Howdy puppets were made for off-camera tasks like lighting rehearsals and public appearances, though old kinescopes show they sometimes appeared on air. One stand-in, called Double Doody, is kept at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Another, Photo Doody, was a nearly stringless marionette used for photos, parades, personal appearances, and the NBC test pattern; it sold at a Lelands Auction in 1997 for over $113,000 to private collector TJ Fisher. In the early 1990s, puppet maker Alan Semok, at the request of Bob Smith, built several precise replicas of Howdy. Using better materials and new molding techniques, he created a more accurate marionette replica than ever before, plus a new Photo Doody that Smith used until his death from cancer on July 30, 1998. One of Semok’s duplicates appeared on a 2005 TV Guide cover with Conan O’Brien dressed as Buffalo Bob Smith. Another replica is housed in the International Museum and Library of the Conjuring Arts, the private museum of illusionist David Copperfield. After Smith died in 1998, a legal fight broke out over who owned the original Howdy puppet. The Detroit Institute of Arts said puppeteer Rufus Rose had promised to donate it decades earlier, but Rose’s heirs disagreed and questioned whether it was the actual TV puppet. While the case was argued, the puppet was stored in a bank vault.

Characters

The show's cast of characters stretched far beyond Howdy Doody himself. Heidi Doody, a stranger who once saved Buffalo Bob's life in Africa, was brought into the family as Howdy's sister. The main villain was Phineas T. Bluster, a miserly mayor of Doodyville and one of the Bluster triplets. His relatives included nephew Petey, South American brother Don José, Thaddeus, and British brother Hector Hamhock Bluster. Princess Summerfall Winterspring began as a live actress, Judy Tyler, who later starred with Elvis Presley in Jailhouse Rock; after her fatal car accident in 1957, the role became a marionette. Dilly Dally was Howdy's simple-minded childhood friend. Inspector John J. Fadoozle, billed as America's top private eye, turned out to be the mysterious Mr. X, who ran against Howdy for President of All the Boys and Girls of America, with children voting via Wonder Bread wrappers. Chief Thunderthud and Chief Featherman were Native American characters that reinforced the western theme. Shopkeeper J. Cornelius Cobb, played by Robert Nicholson, had a strong aversion to clowns. Other figures included Sandra the Witch, Captain Windy Scuttlebut, and Flub-a-Dub, a creature made from eight animals: a duck's bill, cat's whiskers, spaniel's ears, giraffe's neck, dachshund's body, seal's flippers, pig's tail, and an elephant's memory. Animal puppets featured twin bears Hyde and Zeke, African elephant Mambo, dinosaur Tizzy, gnu Paddle, and slow-witted Tommy Turtle. Human characters included Clarabell, a mute clown who used mime, belt horns, and seltzer to communicate; originally Bob Keeshan, later Nicholson and then Lew Anderson. Clarabell stayed silent because paying the actor scale would have busted the low budget. Explorer Sir Archibald was played by Dayton Allen.

International versions

Just as Sesame Street would later do, the Howdy Doody franchise spun off local versions in Canada, Cuba, and Mexico, each using local actors and replica puppets. In March 1953, the Kagran Corporation, which made the original NBC show, began filming La Hora de Jaudi Dudi in Mexico City. This daily Spanish-language program aired on Canal 2 in Mexico and, starting April 27, on CMQ-TV in Havana, Cuba. According to Billboard, this version featured a Howdy puppet without freckles and a new character named Don Burro. Although the plan was to distribute the series across Latin America, production stopped after six months. The difficulties included Mexico’s scarce and often improvised television programming, which differed from the American-influenced Cuban market, and a lack of interest from Mexican broadcasters in foreign productions. Market conditions also played a role: until 1960, most South American countries had no television services or supermarkets; in 1953, the only such facilities in the region were in Havana and Lima, Peru. A total of 96 half-hour episodes were made. Later, Cuban television launched its own local version, Club Chirikin, which ran on CMQ through 1959 or early 1960. It was produced by Stone Associates, a company formed by former Kagran president Martin Stone. The Canadian Howdy Doody Show, produced by the CBC, first aired on November 15, 1954. The CBC built its own Doodyville set in a Toronto studio and placed the show in Canada’s north. It had a lower budget, less chaotic plots, milder villains, and a stronger educational focus. Most puppet characters, including Phineas T. Bluster, Dilly Dally, Flub-a-dub, Heidi Doody, and Howdy, were kept from the U.S. version. However, the human cast was different: there was no Buffalo Bob. Instead, the host was Timber Tom, a forest ranger played by Peter Mews. New puppets included Percival the parrot and Mr. X, who traveled through time and space in his “whatsis box.”