Howdy Doody was a children's television program (with a decidedly frontier/western theme, although other themes also colored the show) that aired on NBC from 1947 through 1960. It was a pioneer in children's programming and set the pattern for many similar shows. It was also a pioneer in early color production as NBC used the show in part to sell color television sets in the 1950's.
Howdy Doody himself was a freckle-faced boy marionette. Bozo the Clown (also known as Bozo), is the name of a clown whose widespread franchising in early television made him the best-known clown character in the United States. Partly as a result, the word "bozo" has become synonymous with a foolish person. It also was a common name given to hobo or tramp clowns.
Doug has often refered to Howdy Doody over the years, but for me personally, I don't think that I spent any time watching a freckle-faced cowboy marionette.
However today, I met the guy who played Bozo for eight years and his friend who is the master puppeteer for Howdy Doody. They are living in Winter Park running a marionette theater.
We had a most enjoyable field trip!
Thanks to Wikipedia for the information about Howdy Doody and Bozo posted in this blog.
1 comment:
VERY COOL that howdy doody was waving! Sounds like a fun field trip.
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