Fort Lauderdale FL—Jack Drury, former manager of Buffalo Bob Smith of The Howdy Doody Show, will be the featured speaker at upcoming Postal Service events promoting the newly-released Howdy Doody stamp in the Early TV Memories commemorative stamp set. Tune in as Fort Lauderdale Postmaster Mike Fortunato presents stamp enlargements at the Rotary Club of Fort Lauderdale and Coral Ridge Country Club where Drury is a member.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 12 NOON
Rotary Club of Fort Lauderdale, Riverside Hotel, 620 E Las Olas Blvd, Fort Lauderdale FL
FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 12 NOON
Coral Ridge Country Club, 3801 Bayview Drive, Fort Lauderdale FL
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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