Baby Boomers remember. Every weekday at five-thirty, there they were in front of the TV, waiting for Buffalo Bob Smith to ask the question.

"Say kids, what time is it?"

A coast-to-coast chorus of young voices would answer. ..

"It's Howdy Doody time!"

Even though Buffalo Bob is no longer with us, Howdy surely is. Fortunately for today's collector of "Howdyana" there's still quite a lot of Doody-related merchandise around.

From 1947 until 1960 Bob Smith and his boy-puppet ,sidekick presided over a kind of soap opera for kids where Phineas T. Bluster - that dastardly evil-deed-doer - tried to play dirty tricks, often aided by his unwitting stooge Dilly-Dally. Clarabell the clown, silent virtuoso of the seltzer bottle, kept the action moving as the Flub-A-Dub, Inspector John J, Fadoozle, (the world's number-one private eye,) and the stoic Chief Thunderthud provided conflict, drama and fun. The lovely Princess Summerfall Winterspring of the Tinka Tonka tribe added to the imaginative plots.

Until the last four years of the show's enormous1y successful run. (with advertising sold out for the entire thirteen years) it was performed live. Although there are few taped records of the show, there's a surprising variety of merchandise still extant.

The original Howdy Doody marionette, the one used on the show, was 27 inches tall and carved of lemonwood. A second Howdy was created to double for the star and to be used in emergencies. The show's producers found out what a wise move this was when the original Howdy was injured in the baggage department of a plane. Of course the off-air puppet was dubbed "Double Doody!"

A third Howdy, which Bob Smith called "Photo Doody" was made without strings for publicity shots and travel. It was Photo Doody): who traveled to college campuses and collector shows. "Double Doody" resides in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C.; the original Howdy is in the possession of the Smith family and auction reports indicate that Photo Doody was sold by Christie's in 1996 for $23,000 and is in a private collection.

From 1947 until 1951 most Howdy doodads were copyrighted by Bob Smith. From 1951 until 1956 character merchandise bore the mark KAGRAN. (A word made up from the names of an RCA executive's children. Katherine and Grant.) From 1956.to 1960 the copyright was California National Products and after 1960 the mark was NBC.

Program sponsors quickly became involved in Howdy merchandising. The Doodyville gang was portrayed on items promoting Wonder Bread. Poll Parrot shoes, Blue Bonnet margarine, Kellogg's cereals and more. (Back in 1953. Welch's jelly jars featured Howdy and his friends. A nice example these days might sell in the twenty dollar range.)

Some of the Howdy gadgets now may seem a bit pricey. But then, Howdy has always been a high roller of sorts. In 1951 Howdy used to gross about $300,000 a year for Buffalo Bob.

Watch for Howdy Doody items at shops, shows, tag sales and online. Look for a Poll Parrot 1952 jigsaw puzzle, or a Howdy Doody Royal Pudding box with trading card on it, or a Wonder Bread Howdy Doody American History Album. A Howdy Doody pottery head vase lists these days for $20, while a big Howdy Doody doll with jointed wood arms and legs bearing the Bob Smith copyright might fetch upwards of $1 000. Don't forget to be on the lookout for memorabilia related to Howdy's friends, like Clarabell and Flub-A- Dub. They're getting scarce.

Here's a little bit of Howdy trivia:

The Howdy Doody show was called "Puppet Playhouse when it first appeared on TV.

The term "cowabunga", a word used regularly by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Simpsons, originally was a greeting used on the Howdy Doody Show by Chief Thunderthud.

Howdy Doody became the first TV show to regularly broadcast in color on June 26, 1953.

Clarabel never spoke on the show until the final episode which aired on September 24, 1953, He said "Goodbye, kids."

The original Clarabel was Bob Keeshan, later better known as Captain Kangaroo.

Stephen Davis wrote a very entertaining book about the show in 1987. It's Say Kids!

What Time Is It? Notes From The Peanut Gallery. Maybe you can find a copy. The book and other remembrances of our old friends Buffalo Bob and Howdy Doody, provide some of us with lovely memories of a simpler time.

Happy Howdy hunting!

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