Patch, Textile
Object number2012.72.1
Datec. 1951
MediumFelt, paint
Credit LineGift of Judy Freiland Shaffer
DescriptionCircular, red felt patch with white design and text. Image of a dog wearing a scarf and a cowboy hat is in the center of the patch.Dimensions0.187 x 4.5 x 14.5 in. (0.5 x 11.4 x 36.8 cm)InscriptionsText around top: "PITTSBURGH PUBLIC SCHOOLS".
Below dog to left: "DENTAL / HONOR".
To right of dog: "YOUR / GOOD / HEALTH / Pal".
Dog's cowboy hat reads "HAPPY" across the band.
Historical NotesHappy the Dog dental honor patch received by donor Judy Freiland Shaffer in the early 1950s when she attended kindergarten at Belmar School in Homewood. Happy the Dog was part of a program to promote dental health in Pittsburgh Public Schools. Happy the puppet, along with Tommy Molar, was invented by Ida Mae Stilley Maher in the 1950s to promote dental hygiene on her local children's television program "The Happy Show" that was shown on KDKA. Maher was the dental hygienist for Pittsburgh Public Schools. The patches were given out in local schools.
Related person
Ida Magdalena Maher
Related institution
Pittsburgh Public Schools
Related institution
Belmar School
Related institution
KDKA-TV
On View
Not on view
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1942
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