Huck Hound for President

Illustration of Huckleberry hound on a yellow background with blue text

Huckleberry "Huck" Hound is a blue cartoon dog with a Southern drawl and a homey, agreeable personality. He first appeared in the 1957 TV series The Huckleberry Hound Show created by the legendary animation studio Hanna-Barbera.  Most of Huck’s adventures had him unsuccessfully trying out various jobs, however, he usually came out on top, either through persistence or luck.  Part of Huck’s routine was to turn to the TV audience and make comments and asides throughout the show.

In 1960, Kellogg's, Huck’s exclusive sponsor, with the Screen Gems production company, developed a promotional presidential election campaign for the hound to grow the TV audience and increase revenue. Buttons, picket signs, balloons, comic books and even a record album were just some of the campaign memorabilia produced featuring Huck. Well-attended election rallies were held for him across the country at shopping malls, TV stations, baseball games and even state fairs. But as was the standard in 1960’s television, the promotional campaign was never a part of the actual TV show for fear of any episodes becoming ‘dated’ and deemed un-syndicatable.

By the next US election year, Huckleberry Hound’s popularity had been surpassed by Yogi Bear’s (another of  Hanna-Barbera’s cartoons) so he was replaced by Yogi on the 1964 presidential ticket.