2016-12-27 Tue

27th December 1947 was the day when Howdy Doody, an American children’s program first appeared on NBC network in the United States and became an important part of every child’s life back then. One of the earliest color shows, it played a pivotal role in the sale of Television sets.

“Buffalo Bob” or Bob Smith created the character of Howdy Doody (a puppet) in his days as a radio announcer. On popular demand, the character was converted into a Television series; Bob Smith voiced the puppet and Frank Paris created the puppet. However, in 1948 due to a tiff between Bob and Frank over the financial profits gained after selling the rights to make Howdy Doody merchandise resulted in Frank leaving the show along with his Doody. Later, a new Doody was made which replaced the original one.

Bob suffered a heart attack in 1954; he returned after a year. When he came back, the airtime was too costly to be able to run 5 times a week and hence Howdy Doody and his stringed friends were shifted to Saturdays where they stayed until the show went off the air on 24th September 1960.

This stamp was released by United States Post in 2009 to commemorate Howdy Doody. This 44 cents stamp depicts Howdy Doody in a Television set.