# For Really Old Dopers Only **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 13, 2004, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-really-old-dopers-only/259761 "2004-08-13T23:06:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-really-old-dopers-only/259761/1 "2004-08-13T23:06:34Z")
Is anyone here old enough to answer these questions about _Howdy Doody_ without looking up the answers? 1. Who’s the funniest clown you know? 2. Chief Thunder \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ 3. Princess Summer \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ 4. What kind of water did the clown spray on people? 5. How did the clown communicate? 6. the \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ gallery 7. What was "rich, rich, rich with flavor, “smooth, smooth, smooth as silk” and had “more food energy than fresh, whole milk”? 8. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ T. Bluster 9. Dilly \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ 10. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Bob Smith 11. How could you recognize Wonder bread? BTW, it was on this particular program in the early 1950’s that they had a guest that came on to tell about a new show that was going to be on in the mornings. The man’s name was Dave Garroway and the name of the new show was going to be _Today_. I was really excited because until that program came on, our television programing didn’t start until 9:00 or 10:00 in the morning. (We got only one channel at the time and that was NBC.) I was prompted to write this post when a couple of wiseguys over in the pit commented on the stupidity of a certain poster and how he must be an old guy or a _grandfather_ (gasp!) (They’d better be nice to me. My seventeen year old granddaughter is quite a babe…) ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-really-old-dopers-only/259761/2 "2004-08-13T23:50:07Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > Is anyone here old enough to answer these questions about _Howdy Doody_ without looking up the answers? > > 1. Who’s the funniest clown you know? **Clarabell** > > 2. Chief Thunder **thud** > > 3. Princess Summer **Fall Winter Spring** > > 4. What kind of water did the clown spray on people? **seltzer** > > 5. How did the clown communicate? **Honked horn** > > 6. the **Peanut** gallery > > 7. What was "rich, rich, rich with flavor, “smooth, smooth, smooth as silk” and had “more food energy than fresh, whole milk”? **Royal Pudding** > > 8. **Phinias** T. Bluster > > 9. Dilly **Dally** > > 10. **Buffalo** Bob Smith > > 11. How could you recognize Wonder bread? **this one stumps me** _unless you meant that it built strong bodies eight ways?_ Damn! Am I that old? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-really-old-dopers-only/259761/3 "2004-08-13T23:51:35Z")
“Say, gang! What TIME is it?” ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-really-old-dopers-only/259761/4 "2004-08-14T00:05:34Z")
_It’s Howdy Doody time! It’s Howdy Doody time! It’s Howdy Doody time! It’s Howdy Doody time!_ And let’s not even get into the whole “Heidi Doody” thing… ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-really-old-dopers-only/259761/5 "2004-08-14T00:13:43Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Damn! Am I that old? Apparently, yes you are. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-really-old-dopers-only/259761/6 "2004-08-14T01:06:03Z")
By the red, white, and blue balloons on the package. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-really-old-dopers-only/259761/7 "2004-08-14T01:16:39Z")
You left out Flub \_ \_\_\_ ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-really-old-dopers-only/259761/8 "2004-08-14T01:23:53Z")
This is a bad indicator because I grew up watching reruns of Howdy Doody in the 1980s. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-really-old-dopers-only/259761/9 "2004-08-14T04:57:48Z")
Oh, **Sam**! You have made my day! And you even knew about Royal pudding. I thought that would be the real test. **AskNott** filled in the missing one. I had forgotten about Heidi. Wasn’t she Howdy’s sister? Did she have braids? How could I have forgotten **Flub-a-Dub**! Howdy was the first thing that I saw when we got our first TV and turned it on one afternoon in the spring of 1951, I think. It seems to be that for a while Gabby Hayes used to come on before Howdy and shoot Quaker Puffed Wheat out of a cannon. **Cisco** , I had no idea there were reruns of Howdy Doody or that any of the shows had been preserved. Wow! Now if someone could just find my blankie… ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-really-old-dopers-only/259761/10 "2004-08-14T05:10:03Z")
You had a TV in your house in those days? NO FAIR! Being among the culturally deprived, I had to settle for books. I couldn’t answer a single one of those Howdy Doody questions. Maybe that’s because I never watched Howdy Doody. Oh poor me. :o ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-really-old-dopers-only/259761/11 "2004-08-14T05:35:02Z")
1. Who’s the funniest clown you know? **Krusty, of course!** 2. Chief Thunder **ummm…Thighs?** 3. Princess Summer **Lovin’hadmeablast?** 4. How did the clown communicate? **Mime Language?** 5. What was "rich, rich, rich with flavor, “smooth, smooth, smooth as silk” and had “more food energy than fresh, whole milk”? **Repetitive Bars?** 6. Dilly\*\*, yo?\*\* 7. **Mister Bob Smith?** Ahhh, what the hell do I know…I grew up on Wonderama and Zoom… ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-really-old-dopers-only/259761/12 "2004-08-14T06:30:37Z")
“We’re gonna zoom-a-zoom-a-zoom-zoom-zoom…” Hell, I think I was watching that in my thirties. **John Carter** , No Howdy Doody? No Miss Frances and _Ding Dong School_? You…you…_spring chicken_!!! How about _Winky Dink_? Am I getting closer? We had a 17’ Motorola. As far as I know, it was the first one in town (population 2001). People used to come over and just _look_ at it even when the sound wasn’t working and there was a lot of “snow” and “ghosts.” When a train came through town, the picture really went haywire. A few years back – the week the Titans played in the Superbowl – we bought a 61" screen. My _Winky Dink_ plastic drawing screen doesn’t fit anymore though. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-really-old-dopers-only/259761/13 "2004-08-14T14:55:27Z")
I misremembered the bread bag line. It’s “red, **yellow,** and blue balloons.” ---
**Author:** ![DrMemory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DrMemory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrMemory)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-really-old-dopers-only/259761/14 "2004-08-14T15:46:48Z")
**FLUB-A-DUB** :dubious: :eek: ---
**Author:** ![tarragon918](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@tarragon918](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tarragon918)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-really-old-dopers-only/259761/15 "2004-08-14T17:44:23Z")
While I did watch Howdy Doody, my favorite was probably Miss Frances’ Ding Dong School. I had the Miss Frances Book of Manners (boy, could children today stand to have that book …), full of pictures of men wearing hats, btw. 😛 And don’t forget that in 1955, CBS brought us Captain Kangaroo at 8 AM, along with Grandfather Clock, Mr. Green Jeans, Bunny Rabbit and Mr. Moose, and the Tom Terrific cartoons. I’ll never forget the Captain reading “Make Way for Ducklings,” and “Blueberries for Sal.” Miss Frances just passed away a few years ago; she was in her 90s! ---
**Author:** ![Stage\_Manager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stage_manager/32/7267_2.png) [@Stage\_Manager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stage_Manager)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-really-old-dopers-only/259761/16 "2004-08-14T18:50:28Z")
[QUOTE=Zoe] We had a 17’ Motorola. QUOTE] Wow. Talk about BIG SCREEN TV!! ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-really-old-dopers-only/259761/17 "2004-08-14T19:09:31Z")
I was able to answer half of them, so I guess I’m just old instead of really old. OR, I just have a good memmory of hearing my very, very, very, much older sister talk about Howdy Doody. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-really-old-dopers-only/259761/18 "2004-08-14T22:23:55Z")
I was actually in the Peanut Gallery. They filmed, I think, in Cherry Hill NJ (I was four so I could be remebering wrong–maybe we had Cherry Vanilla ie cream that day) and I was near-hysterical to be making my TV debut. Don’t remember a goddamned thing. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-really-old-dopers-only/259761/19 "2004-08-14T23:00:21Z")
> [@pseudotriton ruber ruber](#): > > Don’t remember a goddamned thing. Yeah, that happens when you get really really old. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-really-old-dopers-only/259761/20 "2004-08-14T23:29:17Z")
Beautiful! It was Chief Thunder Cloud, wasn’t it? But you forgot the most important question: _ **Who’s the leader of the club that’s made for you and me?** _ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-really-old-dopers-only/259761.md?page=2)