Go Bucks! Go Huck! – Oct. 1959

Well, this is Homecoming Weekend 2019 at Ohio State University, my Alma Mater.

The tradition goes back to 1912, making this the 107th celebration. (You can read more about the history of it here.) There's plenty of activities in store besides the football game: a big Homecoming parade; a pep rally; the election of a king and queen; and the decoration of the dorms and the Greek houses around a Homecoming theme.

This year’s theme is “Back to the Future.” But do you know what it was back in 1959 – 60 years ago?

Huckleberry Hound!

That’s right, Huckleberry Hound – one of my all-time fave-o-rite cartoon characters. Huck's TV show had gone on the air in October 1958 and turned out to be as popular with adults – especially the college crowd – as it was with kids.

This article from the September 6, 1959 Des Moines Register examines his popularity on campus.

As the article noted, Huck was going to be the theme of Ohio State’s upcoming homecoming game.

And here’s the cover of the football program, and the page spotlighting the festivities featuring Huck. Looks like Pixie (one of the two “meeces” on the show, along with Dixie) got in on the act too.

And here’s a photo from the big event, taken from a WTVN-TV Columbus promotional flyer (courtesy of yowpyowp.blogspot.com.)

And just to refresh your memory, here’s the Huckleberry Hound TV show theme, which the Ohio State Marching Band no doubt played on the football field that day. (Note that Huck isn’t even in the sequence; instead, the Kellogg’s rooster does the honors.)

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Huckleberry Hound has been spotlighted on this blog a few times, including this post when Huck was featured in a Meyer Goldberg ad; this post, from when Daws Butler (Huck’s voice) visited Elyria in 1960; this post about our Kenner Super Show Projector; and this post which shows several Huckleberry Hound Halloween masks.

Some of my earliest memories of being a kid are of watching Huckleberry Hound after dinner in the house at 1604 W. 30th Street in the early 1960s. Happy memories of a carefree time. I guess that’s why I’m still a fan of the ol’ blue hound dog.