It's Howdy Doody Time

from wikipedia

Howdy Doody himself was a freckle-faced boy marionette, and was originally voiced by Buffalo Bob Smith. The Howdy Doody marionettes were created and built by puppeteers Velma Wayne Dawson and Rufus Rose throughout the show's run. The redheaded Howdy marionette on the original show was operated with 11 strings: two head, one mouth, one eyes, two shoulders, one back, two hands and two knees. Three strings were added when the show returned—two elbows and one nose. This gap-toothed puppet in cowboy boots remains a favorite baby boomer childhood memory and popular culture icon. The original Howdy Doody marionette now resides at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Double Doody (Howdy) was the Howdy stand-in puppet; he now resides at the Smithsonian where he is on permanent display. The third Howdy puppet known as Photo Doody (Howdy) is the near-stringless marionette that was used in personal appearances, photos, parades and the famed NBCs test pattern. He was sold by Leland's Sports Auction House in 1997 for more than $113,000 to a private art collector, TJ Fisher. Other puppet characters included Heidi Doody (Howdy's sister), Mayor Phineas T. Bluster, Dilly Dally, Princess Summerfall Winterspring, and the curious Flub-a-Dub (a combination of eight animals—a duck's bill, a cat's whiskers, a spaniel's ears, a giraffe's neck, a dachshund's body, a seal's flippers, a pig's tail,and an elephant's memory).
The show's host was Bob Smith (born November 27, 1917 and died July 30, 1998), who was dubbed "Buffalo Bob" early in the show's run. Smith wore cowboy garb, and the name of the puppet "star" was derived from the western U.S. expression "howdy do", a familiar form of the greeting "How Do You Do?" (The straightforward use of that expression was also in the theme song's lyrics.) Smith, who had gotten his start as a singing radio personality in Buffalo, New York, used music frequently in the program. Cast members Lew Anderson and Bobby Nicholson were both experienced jazz musicians.
There also were several human characters, most notably the mute Clarabell the Clown, who communicated by honking horns on his belt and squirting seltzer, and Chief Thunderthud, head of the Ooragnak tribe of Native Americans (kangaroo spelled backward, possibly from Bob Keeshan), who originated the cry "Kowabonga!" Princess Summerfall Winterspring, originally a puppet, was later played by the actress Judy Tyler. The characters inhabited the fictional town of "Doodyville." Several characters were also voiced by comedian and voice actor Dayton Allen, who later went on to become a cast regular on NBC's prime-time Steve Allen Show. The show's non-televised rehearsals were renowned for including considerable double-entendre dialogue between the cast members and the puppet characters.
Clarabell was first played by Keeshan, who continued in that role until 1952. Keeshan left in a salary dispute and later became Captain Kangaroo at CBS. At the end of the final episode, aired September 24, 1960, Clarabell (then played by jazz musician Lew Anderson) broke his series-long silence to say the final words of the final broadcast: "Goodbye, kids." Lew Anderson followed Bobby Nicholson, who also played Doodyville's J. Cornelius Cobb.
After the death of Buffalo Bob Smith, a fierce legal and custody battle for the original Howdy Doody erupted between the warring heirs of the Bob Smith the Rufus Rose estates, and a museum that the marionette had been bequeathed to. Howdy was once again in the news, with his face and story making headline broadcast, wire, talk show and print news around the world. For a while, during the tug-a-war fight, Howdy was held hostage in a bank safety deposit box while his saga played out in the federal courts. The Detroit Institute for Arts, which has one of the largest collections of historically significant puppets in North America, prevailed and now has custody of Howdy.
The show was extremely popular for many baby boomers. Originally an hour on Saturdays, the show moved to Monday through Friday, 5:30-6:00 pm EST in 1948. In 1956, it returned to Saturday, in a morning timeslot.
Beginning in 1954, the NBC test pattern featured a picture of Howdy.