Cuddly Dudley is a ''lifesize'' (at 28.5 inch tall) shiny

plush Plush (from French ) is a textile having a cut nap or pile the same as fustian or velvet. Its softness of feel gave rise to the adjective "plush" to describe something soft or luxurious, which was extended to describe luxury accommodation, or ...

stuffed animal A stuffed toy is a toy doll with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material. They are known by many names, such as plush toys, plushies, stuffed animals, and stuffies; in Britain and Australia, they may also be c ...

nostalgic

cocker spaniel Cocker Spaniels are dogs belonging to two breeds of the spaniel dog type: the American Cocker Spaniel and the English Cocker Spaniel of which are commonly called simply Cocker Spaniel in their countries of origin. In the early 20th century, Cock ...

doll A doll is a model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and wood are foun ...

that was used as a

subscription The subscription business model is a business model in which a customer must pay a recurring price at regular intervals for access to a product or service. The model was pioneered by publishers of books and periodicals in the 17th century, and ...

sales promotional item by the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' in the mid-1960s. In addition, the animal took on a life of its own as a recurring

puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods ...

character on Chicago children's TV for many years.

Promotional gimmick

Cuddly Dudley was an idea Jerry Glasspiegel came up within the middle of the night when he was thinking of a good promotion idea for his customer, The ''Chicago Tribune''. Francis A. Schumacher, the then-home circulation supervisor for the ''Chicago Tribune'', helped start the Cuddly Dudley promotion program. As part of the program, home subscribers received a stuffed dog for subscribing.

(May 8, 1992) ''Francis A. Schumacher.'' Section: Chicagoland; page 8. The idea was very similar to Disney or McDonald's, in that the hope was that the kids would pester the parents for the animal, effectively shilling for the paper. As part of the scheme a 1967 Sunday paper, the newspaper's largest issue of the week, included a cut and fold insert encouraging kids to "save" Dudley from the "runaway Christmas train." Vintage dolls with the original box, which converts into Dudley's cardboard car, get up to $200 at auction.

On television

Roy Brown Roy Brown may refer to: Arts, music and entertainment * Roy Brown (blues musician) (1920/25–1981), American blues musician who was a pioneer of rock and roll * Roy Brown (Puerto Rican musician) (born 1945), Puerto Rican musician and folk singer ...

, a fixture on WGN's kid vid for decades, subsequently retrofitted the plush animal as a working puppet. He performed as the voice and

puppeteer A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object, called a puppet, to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from ...

behind Cuddly for many years on " Ray Rayner and Friends", a classic morning show on WGN, which was also owned by the ''

''. The segment appeared weekly on Fridays near the end of the show, for the last 10–15 minutes. Ray would begin singing "The Cuddly Dudley Song" (to the music of "The Whistler and His Dog" by Arthur Pryor) and walk over to Cuddly's doghouse. Dudley would proceed to read jokes and display artwork submitted by local Chicago children. The big draw was getting one's name mentioned on air, as Dudley would always namedrop each submitter's name before the joke/artwork was read/ shown.

Knock-knock joke The knock-knock joke is a type of audience-participatory joke cycle, typically ending with a pun. Knock-knock jokes are primarily seen as children's jokes, though there are exceptions. The scenario is of a person knocking on the front door to a ...

s were a recurring theme. Ray would give a wonderful forced laugh after each joke. There were always adult ad-libs between Brown and Rayner, and Roy Brown often would get Ray to crack up if he was feeling particularly silly that morning. Cuddly Dudley also appeared on the

Bozo the Clown Bozo the Clown, sometimes billed as "Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown", is a clown character created for children's entertainment, widely popular in the second half of the 20th century. He was introduced in the United States in 1946, and to te ...

show. The puppet and his doghouse are part of the collection of the

Museum of Broadcast Communications The Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC) is an American museum, the stated mission of which is "to collect, preserve, and present historic and contemporary radio and television content as well as educate, inform and entertain through our archi ...

Theme song

As Rayner began the segment he would sing the following song. Music by Arthur Pryor. Lyrics by an unknown source. ''We're off to Cuddly Dudley's house he's cute as he can be.'' ''With his fur of gold and his nose so cold he's cuddly as can be.'' ''He's got riddles and jokes and the fun that he pokes is never aimed at me.'' ''Here's the place that he lives and the name that he gives is Cuddly.''

Other meanings

In addition,

Cuddly Dudley Cuddly Dudley is a ''lifesize'' (at 28.5 inch tall) shiny plush stuffed animal nostalgic cocker spaniel doll that was used as a subscription sales promotional item by the ''Chicago Tribune'' in the mid-1960s. In addition, the animal took on ...

was Britain's first black Rock and Roller; Cuddly Duddly was a nickname given to actor

Dudley Moore Dudley Stuart John Moore CBE (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. Moore first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writ ...

. Further, the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

has been referred to as Cuddly Duddly clones.Sullivan, Paul. (September 9, 2003)

Chicago tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

''From cuddly Cubs to feisty Baker boys.'' Section: Sports; Page 5.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Footage from the final episode
Chicago Tribune Puppets Stuffed toys