Blogpost #36

Say, kids, what time is it? It's Howdy Doody Time! December 27, 1941 is Howdy's birthday, according to the Howdy Doody fan club. The truth is that Howdy originated as a voice on Bob Smith's radio show around 1947. He character was originally named Elmer, but his annoying habit of saying "Howddeee-dooodeee" gave him his famous nickname.

This week's show features rare children's records from the mid 50's, including the one above. The cover shows Howdy playing all the instruments in his one-man band. There's a copy of this record available at Reckless Records on Broadway in Chicago.

This week's show also features an abridged version of an interesting LP from 1972 that mixes clips from Howdy's radio show with sound bites from 1950's newsmakers. It's titled "The World: Original Cast starring Howdy Doody". For free audio downloads of Howdy's radio and TV shows from the 50's, visit the Internet Archive at archive.org.

Next week's show will usher in a new era for this program. The current format is dedicated to one topic per week, which I believe alienates a number of our listeners because they have no interest in the topic. Stating next week, this show launches a new format based on the notable historic events of the coming week. Instead of one topic for the entire show, there'll be dozens of topics to hold your interest.

We'll start each show by focusing on the birthdays and anniversaries for that Sunday, and we'll progress through the days of the week until we get to Saturday (or until I run out of time). For a sneak preview of the events I'll be using for the first show, visit CalendarHome.com for links to all the best online archives.

A final note for 2009: This blog was created for the purpose of keeping you informed about my upcoming shows as well as providing a forum for your feedback. Sadly, due to lack of response from my listeners, I have decided to retire this blog.

I thank you for all your support these past eight months, and I invite you to visit wluw.org every Sunday morning (or any time during the week) to read a brief description of my upcoming show. Click on the Sunday link if it's not Sunday, and look for the link to the page for A Time To Remember. It will be updated weekly.

Thanks for listening, and remember to call in next week with your comments about the show. Sunday morning at ten in Chicago is still A Time To Remember.