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Having been born in 1948, the TV programs, especially the "kiddie" shows, of the 1950's were (and still are) my favorites. But, I also had a very unique connection and insight as a child to those "Golden" years of television.

My uncle, Dayton Allen, was a puppeteer for, and the voice of, many of the characters on the "Howdy Doody Show." "Mr.Bluster" the mayor of "Doodyville", "Dilly Dally" the janitor, the "Fllubadub" and Howdy himself (when "Buffalo" Bob Smith, who did Howdy's voice most of the time, was on-camera with Howdy). are just of few of the show's stars that Dayton brought to life. Some of the zany characters that Dayton performed in person on-camera included "Lanky Lou", "Ugly Sam" the wrestler, and "Sir Archibald" the explorer. Having an Inside connection to the show made watching the program almost obligatory. Because of our Inside connection to the show, my brother and I received every promotional toy, poster, game, puppet, wash cloth puppet, and autographed picture associated with the first few seasons that Uncle Dayton was on the show. One of the main characters was "Clarabell" the clown, was played by Bob Keeshan, who later became famous as "Captain Kangaroo." He and my uncle left the show (along with some other cast members) over a salary dispute. Because the providers of many of the voices were now gone, the next show had the puppets travel to a magic land where their voices were slightly changed.

Dayton Allen is best known for his voice work in cartoons and commercials. He worked for years for TerryTunes where he was the original voices of "Heckel and Jeckel" the talking magpies, some of voices on"Mighty Mouse." "Astronut" "James Hound" "Milton the Monster" and many others including my favorites, all of the characters on the "Deputy Dawg" show. When I was thirteen, a friend and I got the chance to watch him record an episode of "Stuffy Derma" the Tramp. Watching him stand at the mike with the script and switch back and forth between the different characters without missing a beat was fascinating. His commercial voice-over work includes the one for Brillo scouring pads: "You're all washed up now Mr. Blue," and for Chips Ahoy cookies: "Gadzooks! It's the Cookie Monster!"

In the early fifties, there was a popular kid's show called "Winky Dink and You" which was part animated and part live action that featured what should be remembered as the very first interactive video experience. You were invited to send in for your "Magic Screen" which

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