Hey, kids – know what time it is?
If you’re like me, well, I’m
Remembering just what that meant –
“It’s Howdy Doody time!”
Now Howdy was a puppet
On a children’s TV show.
(Technically, a marionette,
In case you’d want to know.)
From 1947,
It was on for thirteen years,
Five days a week, before we ever
Heard of Mouseketeers.
With Clarabell the Clown
And host Bob Smith, we got to see
Some lucky kids who made it to
The Peanut Gallery.*
My buddies from the block all went
But I was in the dumps
Because I couldn’t join them,
Stuck at home, sick with the mumps.
Last Sunday, though, I got the chance,
So many years past due,
To go to a museum
Where some puppets were on view.
And there was Howdy Doody –
Freckled, smiling, on his strings,
With boots, plaid shirt and dungarees –
The memories he brings!
It made my day to see him,
So my grown-up self could greet
Such a symbol of my childhood
And a perfect birthday treat.
*the seating area for guest children