Fort Lauderdale, FL—The U.S. Postal Service has scheduled South Florida dedication ceremonies to celebrate its Early TV Memories commemorative stamp set available at Post Offices starting today, August 11. Tune in to these stamp dedication ceremonies:
TUESDAY, AUGUST 11, 10 AM
The Honeymooners Stamp Dedication Ceremony with guest speakers Marilyn Taylor Gleason, wife of Jackie Gleason, and Craig Horwich, his stepson
Fort Lauderdale Main Post Office Lobby
1900 W Oakland Park Blvd
Fort Lauderdale FL 33310-9998
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 12 NOON
Howdy Doody Stamp Day with presentation to Jack Drury, Rotary Club member and former manager, Buffalo Bob Smith of The Howdy Doody Show
Rotary Club of Miami
Riverside Hotel
620 E Las Olas Blvd
Fort Lauderdale FL 33301-2235
FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 12 NOON
Howdy Doody Stamp Day with presentation to Jack Drury, Coral Ridge Country Club member and former manager, Buffalo Bob Smith of The Howdy Doody Show
Coral Ridge Country Club
3801 Bayview Drive
Fort Lauderdale FL 33309-5835
“Alice, you’re goin’ to the moon!” is still mimicked today more than a half century after Jackie Gleason’s portrayal of Ralph Kramden in the hit 1950s television series The Honeymooners.
The Honeymooners grew out of a six-minute sketch first broadcast in 1951 on Cavalcade of Stars. Jackie Gleason starred as bus driver Ralph Kramden, who lived in a cramped Brooklyn apartment with his wife, Alice. Ralph was a schemer whose dreams of hitting the jackpot were constantly frustrated. Alice was more pragmatic, standing firm in the face of her husband’s rage. Art Carney, who appeared as a policeman in the initial sketch, was cast as Ed Norton, Ralph’s neighbor, friend, and co-conspirator, who usually managed to leave him holding the bag.
As a half-hour series, The Honeymooners ran for only one season, 1955-1956. It presented viewers with a comic view of working-class life. Hemmed in by circumstance, Ralph would threaten to send his wife to the moon, only to be reconciled by the end of the episode, when he would tell her, “Baby, you’re the greatest.”
The Howdy Doody Show is a happy memory for many baby boomers. It premiered as Puppet Playhouse in December 1947, but its name was quickly changed. The show was set in the imaginary town of Doodyville and blended live-action characters such as host “Buffalo Bob” Smith and Clarabell, a mischievous clown, with puppets including the title character. It was performed before a live audience of children known as the peanut gallery. Howdy, shown in the stamp art, was a boy with red hair and 48 freckles—one for each state in the Union at that time.
Each episode began with a question—“Say, kids, what time is it?”— answered by the children in the peanut gallery in unison: “It’s Howdy Doody time!” The show ran until September 1960, entertaining children and selling television sets to their parents. At the close of the final show, Clarabell surprised everyone by speaking for the first time, saying, “Goodbye, kids.”
The Early TV Memories sheet of 44-cent First-Class stamps celebrate 20 productions from television’s Golden Age. The stamps recognize The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet; Alfred Hitchcock Presents; Dinah Shore Show; Dragnet; Ed Sullivan Show; George Burns & Gracie Allen Show; Hopalong Cassidy; The Honeymooners; Howdy Doody; I Love Lucy; Kukla, Fran and Ollie; Lassie; The Lone Ranger; Perry Mason; Phil Silvers Show; The Red Skelton Show; Texaco Star Theater; The Tonight Show; Twilight Zone; and You Bet Your Life.
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Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/welcome.htm.
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