Howdy Doody Time

Howdy Doody was actually more complicated. Bob Smith was the early morning DJ on WNBC in New York, when he was offered an additional Saturday morning slot hosting a game show for children. The show was called "Triple-B ranch," standing for "Big Brother Bob." Unfortunately no recordings of the show are known to exist. Smith created a country-bumpkin character called Elmer, who would appear for a brief routine of hayseed humor. Elmer would greet Smith with "Well Howdy Doody!" Kids coming to the show to participate in the games, or just be in the audience, were disappointed when Smith just spoke in a different voice as Elmer (this was radio, after all). They wanted to _see_ "Howdy Doody." So Smith stopped calling the character Elmer and called him Howdy Doody, since that was what the kids were calling him. And if the kids wanted to see Howdy Doody, he talked to the TV people about a puppet show. He went to the TV people on a Tuesday, and they said, "You're on Saturday." This was too soon to make a puppet, so while other puppets appeared, Howdy Doody was hiding in a desk drawer, too shy to come out, for the first two shows. So Howdy Doody started as part of a local radio show. Then a few years later, a Saturday morning Howdy Doody radio show was done on NBC, I think starting in 1951. It ran until September 1954, when Smith had a heart attack. The TV show continued until September 1960.

Good evening...I have been a big fan of of the Howdy Doody Show since I was a small child....I even appeared live in the Peanut Gallery on two separate occasions in the very early 1950's...About ten years ago, I was able to locate only (2) episodes from the radio version....I was so very suprised to receive this Mp3 with fourteen episodes and a playing time of 2 1/2 hours...I still have the parting gifts I received at the live broadcasts and I am 74 years old....THANKS for this opportunity OTRCAT.com...The quality is superb, and thanks for the memories!

I just finished listening to the 03/01/ 1952 episode of Howdy Doody Time. It brought back some memories. At the same time, it was laying the foundation for future children's shows such as Captain Kangaroo and Mr. Rogers. One of the secrets of the success of the show is that Buffalo Bob never patronized or talked down to the children. There was plenty of humor and music, with a gentleness to it all.