Blogtrek

Clarabell is dead

Today I heard that Bob Keeshan is dead at 76 years of age. This is the first time I have heard of the name. I recognize him more from the childhood names I knew him as, namely Clarabell and Captain Kangaroo. He was one of my favorite childhood actors, although as a child I always knew him as Clarabell or Captain Kangaroo. I could never find the real name of this person.

I knew him primarily as Clarabell, when I watched Howdy Doody during the early 1950s when I was an early grade school child. I liked Clarabell's silliness. He would squirt seltzer water on everybody. He had a box on his front and a horn, and he would honk the horn a lot. He never uttered a word, but made motions instead. Whenever Buffalo Bob had a table full of bells and he would ring the bells in turn to play a tune, Clarabell would ruin it by getting out a cowbell and either putting the cowbell amongst the intended bells, or simply ringing the cowbell. It would sound out of timbre and out of pitch both with the other bells and it would sound silly. Buffalo Bob would always say, "Do!!!" (rhymes with "go") after these episodes. Tonight I saw him attempting to get Flub-a-Dub to shut up by holding his beak shut. In a later episode Buffalo Bob told him to put the goulash in the pot, and instead he put a pair of galoshes into it and ruined the meal. I will always remember Clarabell; I was never quite sure as a child how to spell his name.

In 1955, in addition to playing Clarabell, Bob Keeshan started his own show: Captain Kangaroo. I did not watch this as much; I was 9 at the time and much more interested in Mickey Mouse Club, and in a few years, I was getting too old for these shows. But I do remember some Captain Kangaroo episodes, including those involving my most favorite character on those shows, Bunny Rabbit. In one episode, Bunny Rabbit had a deck of cards and wanted to play a card trick. He showed Captain Kangaroo the deck fanned-out face down and asked Captain Kangaroo to select a card. He did and put it face down on the table. Bunny Rabbit said it was the 4 of clubs. Captain Kangaroo turned it over. Sure enough, it was the 4 of clubs. Bunny Rabbit played the trick again. He showed Captain Kangaroo the deck fanned-out face down and asked Captain Kangaroo to select a card. He did and put it face down on the table. Bunny Rabbit said it was the 4 of clubs. Captain Kangaroo turned it over. Sure enough, it was the 4 of clubs. Bunny Rabbit played the trick again. He showed Captain Kangaroo the deck fanned-out face down and asked Captain Kangaroo to select a card. He did and put it face down on the table. Bunny Rabbit said it was the 4 of clubs. About this Captain Kangaroo got suspicious, and he turned over the entire deck. Every single card in it was a 4 of clubs.

Captain Kangaroo played a part in my life, and also in my son's life in the 1980s. I heard tonight that he entertained three generations of children: Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials. Captain Kangaroo was similar to Mr. Rogers, but was sillier. What is surprising is that all three generations treasured him. I could see that from Millennials, since he was easy going and was kind to children. But his silly wit was similar to the shows presented to Generation X (e.g., Sesame Street), and he appealed to Baby Boomers as well, as he was similar to Clarabell, who he also played. His was a universal children's program. I suppose he would have appealed to Silents or to the generation that is coming up in a year or two.

It is said to hear that Clarabell and Captain Kangaroo are dead.