'Hey, Kids (And Detroit Institute of Art Patrons)! Do You Know What Time It Is?'

Howdy Doody, the freckled-faced cowboy marionette who has a special place in many Baby Boomers’ hearts, is coming out of storage for an exhibit with other puppets of distinction at the Detroit Art Institute. (Photo via Wikimedia/Creative Commons)

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Howdy Doody, the freckled iconic cowboy marionette who delighted kids on television from 1947-1960, will hang among the great works of masters at the renowned Detroit Institute of Arts for the next six months.

The original Howdy Doody marionette, acquired by the museum in 2001, last made an appearance in 2010. He is outfitted in the same trademark cowboy boots and buckskin gloves worn in “The Howdy Doody Show” on the NBC network. The famous marionette also came out of storage in 2009, when the U.S. Postal service issued a commemorative Howdy Doody stamp.

The iconic puppet will be part of a larger puppets of distinction exhibit opening March 20 and remaining on display until Sept. 20, according to a news release. The DIA acquired Howdy Doody in 2001, and it is a prominent entry in the DIA’s puppet collection of around 800 pieces.

The upcoming display includes other puppets with special historic significance: an18th-century Venetian comedia del arte (art comedy) cast and American Colonial-era Punch and Judy. Punch and Judy are comedic hand puppets from 18th-century New England with ornate theater play-boards and miniature stage props.

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With a freckle for each of the nation’s 48 states at the time, Howdy Doody occupies a special place in the hearts of American Baby Boomers, who gathered around the television to sing along with Bob and his sidekick Howdy. (Or, rather, sing along with – Howdy and his sidekick Bob, because the puppet always upstaged Robert Schmidt, the child piano and organ virtuoso who created Howdy.)

The show included a cast of time-honored characters such as Clarabell the Clown, Mayor Phineas T. Bluster, Chief Thunderthud, Princess Summerfall Winterspring, the original Peanut Gallery and Flub-A-Dub, a meatball-eating wild animal composite Bob and Howdy caught in a South American jungle/

The first program to air five times a week and the first nationally syndicated American television program, it laid the groundwork for future children’s programming.

For a time, it looked like the cowboy puppet, which antique appraisers said might fetch as much as $500,000 at auction, could ride out of Detroit into the sunset for a final time, along with works in the DIA’s vast collection of more than 60,000 pieces.

The DIA’s collection was at risk early in Detroit’s bankruptcy talks when creditors proposed selling the art – believed to be worth billions and billions of dollars, according to Institute director Graham Beal – to settle Detroit’s immense $18 billion debt.

However, a deal known as “the grand bargain,” put together after national and local philanthropic groups scrambled to put together $330 million to offset cuts to Detroit retirees’ pensions, saved the collection.