Buffalo Bob Says Howdy Doody For President reads the embroidering on the back of this 1948 yellow corduroy jacket with "Buff...

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Buffalo Bob Says Howdy Doody For President reads the embroidering on the back of this 1948 yellow corduroy jacket with "Buffalo Bob" on the front. On Saturday, December 27th, 1947, with two feet of snow blanketing New York City, Puppet Playhouse went on the air as NBC's first show of the day at 5:00 pm! The weather was so bad that Clarabell the Clown (played by Bob Keeshan, the future Captain Kangaroo) couldn't even make it to the studio, but still something very special happened that day! It was the show that set the standard for the future of television and its connection to popular culture. Among its firsts: the first network kid's show to run five days a week; the first television show regularly broadcast in color; the first to implement split-screen cross-country broadcasts (a technology later used during the televised Kennedy and Nixon debates); and the first TV show to complete 1000 broadcasts. The group of children that made up the studio audience were called the "peanut gallery," a phrase that has entered the American vernacular.

As a promotion in the early days of the show, Buffalo Bob Smith waged a campaign to elect Howdy Doody "President of All Boys and Girls." Over 58,000 requests were received in the first week alone for campaign buttons, a total that would soar to over 250,000 during the campaign. A similar campaign in the 1952 election year brought in over a million "write-in ballots." This present item was Buffalo Bob's jacket promoting the 1948 presidential campaign. It is bright yellow corduroy with slash pockets and black trim, padded lining, and was manufactured by Broadway Knitting Mills of Buffalo (coincidence?), New York. It is in excellent and bright condition with just a couple of stains on the front that could likely be cleaned. A wonderful item for the political textile collector or, more likely, a "baby-boomer" who grew up, sitting in their imaginary living room "peanut gallery," singing along with "It's Howdy Doody Time," and enjoying all the great inhabitants of Doodyville.