From that WNBT Ten Year Ago special, Howdy defeats Mr. X to become President of the Kids. Ben Grauer talks over the 1948 kinescope, (which features Howdy, Buffalo Bob Smith and Bob Keeshan as Clarabell) Howdy’s Presidential campaign received such a strong audience response (the show got 58000 requests for campaign buttons) that it convinced Polaroid to become the program’s first sponsor. By the end of 1948, Howdy was the 6th most watched TV show in New York, and they were marketing Howdy Doody dolls. Pretty good for a show that aired at 5:30 PM. Howdy Doody was before my time of course, and it is one of those shows whose appeal escapes me. I never heard my brother talk about it either- he was more interested in local children’s shows. One little factoid on the 1960′s: The last Howdy Doody show aired in 1960. Sesame Street debuted in 1969