1949: Buffalo Bob Smith with Howdy Doody and Flub-A-Dub (Read More)

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The town of Doodyville provided the setting for the earliest nationally televised children's show. Originally called 'Puppet Playhouse' and renamed 'The Howdy Doody Show' in 1949, the much-adored series featured songs, movie shorts, and the antics of the freckle-faced marionette, his mentor Buffalo Bob Smith and the horn-honking Clarabell the Clown (first played by Bob Keeshan). At the end of the final episode, Clarabell sadly uttered his first and last words, 'Goodbye, kids.' - from TV Guide

 

Besides Howdy Doody, the other characters in the show included:

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1. Phineas T. Bluster: The resident skinflint, mayor of Doodyville and nemesis of Howdy; one of the Bluster triplets.

2. Princess Summerfall Winterspring: Introduced as a puppet, then played by actress Judy Tyler, who afterwards appeared opposite Elvis Presley in the 1957 film Jailhouse Rock. After she was killed in a car accident on July 3, 1957, at the age of 24, the character was portrayed by a marionette. She was one of several native Americans who played in Howdy Doody.

 

3. Dilly Dally: Howdy's naive boyhood friend.

 

4. Flub-a-Dub: A combination of eight animals. He had a duck's bill, a cat's whiskers, a spaniel's ears, a giraffe's neck, a dachshund's body, a seal's flippers, a pig's tail, and an elephant's memory.

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5. Clarabelle the Clown

Clarabell, who wore a baggy, striped costume, communicated through mime and by honking a horn for "yes" or "no".

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