Half-Time Huck

Personal appearances by cartoon characters can be difficult. I mean, what do you do, hold up a drawing?

The folks at Kellogg’s or their agency or Columbia Pictures came up with the idea of having people dress up as Hanna-Barbera’s stars to make appearances in costume at stores, fairs and public events. There was even someone who went with them to do an act.

From what I can tell, those costumes looked kind of tacky. But they didn’t look as off-model and home-made as the ones in Rochester, Indiana that you see below.

Here’s a picture from the Rochester Sentinel, dated October 10, 1961. Even Dumbo didn’t have ears the size of the Pixie and Dixie costumes.



The idea of Huck et al parading at half-time makes me wonder, was there one of those little cartoons-between-the-cartoons that featured a sports stadium setting? If not, the idea lends itself to some pretty good gags. Yogi appeared in “Rah Rah Bear” (1959); I can see Huck in a football cartoon of his own, maybe against Powerful Pierre. Oh, where’s Ed Love to draw “Half-Time Huck”? I’m pretty sure it would look a lot better than those unfortunate costumes.