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Pulling Howdy Doody's Strings

T

trusty

Here's a somewhat odd request (but I need the answer to help with an assignment):

Does anyone know who operated the actual Howdy Doody puppet? The closest I've gotten is someone named Rufus Rose. I believe he was the creator of the puppet itself, but I don't know if he actually operated it on the program.

I also read there were two people that operated Howdy, but no names. I appreciate someone filling in the blanks here.
 
See if you can track down a book called "Say Kids! What Time is It? Notes from the Peanut Gallery". I had it many years ago (not sure where it went) and it did have interviews with the puppeters. I know one of them was a woman who also did some of the voices, but her name escapes me at the moment.
 
Rufus Rose was a puppeteer, but he didn't design or build either the first Howdy or the second one.

The first Howdy (who didn't look too much like the one we all recall) was created and operated by Frank Paris, who abruptly left with the puppet minutes before airtime.

The second Howdy (the one everyone recalls) was designed by Velma Dawson.

BTW, this Howdy originally had 48 freckles (one for each state). In January of 1959, he got a 49th freckle, and that August, he gained a 50th, to mark Alaska and Hawaii becoming our 49th and 50th states.

Rose and Rhoda Mann worked the strings for most of the original 1947-60 run.
 
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