My youngest daughter, Melanie, would have enjoyed 'The Howdy Doody Show' as a ventriliquist in her own right!

As I was growing up, being the oldest of a large family which eventually tallied seven children, there was lots to do on the farm.  Often we had about 50 head of dairy cattle to milk night and morning, along with feeding and taking care of them.  The farm work of some 200 acres also had to be attended to, so there was always something to do.

Most of the time, I couldn't wait to get home from school, and as soon as the bus let us off at the stop that was at the neighbor's, about 1/8 of a mile away there was just enought time to view one or two TV shows before time to do chores.  Of course, there was no color TV at the time.  The closest we would get to that was to put colored cellophane tape over the screen (often orange or green) so we could watch the shows through it.

Some of my favorites included Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Gene Autry, and the every faithful Lone Ranger and his side-kick Tonto.  "Who was the Masked Man, anyway?!"  The cowboy westerns were always a popular favorite.  The Mickey Mouse Club showed each weekday, and I had a "crush" on Annette Funichello who would have been a little older than I was.  The theme song was often stuck in my head: -M-I-C-K-E-Y---M O-U-S-E!

Then there was the "Howdy Doody Show".  Clarabell was always so funny, and the antics of Howdy Doody, although just a puppet, were amazing!  My youngest daughter would have really enjoyed that, as she is somewhat of an accomplished ventriliquist in her own right.

In the evenings, after chores were done, I enjoyed watching "Perry Mason" and the 'who-done-its' with his District Attorney friend.  And who could forget his secretary, Della Street?  The old re-runs bring back lots of memories of my childhood growing up with black and white TV.