Though you’re probably more familiar with Harvey’s Little Dot, when it
comes to characters obsessed with all things polka-patterned, it just so happens
that another character emerged with a polka-pointallist’s fixation. In 1950,
when Rootie Kazootie emerged as a television competitor for Howdy Doody, the
four-year-old All-American boy puppet brought along a friend… a
girlfriend. Her name was Polka Dottie.

Creator Steve Carlin fashioned Polka Dottie as a sidekick who sang and
danced and balanced Rootie’s boyish, rough-and-tumble charm with dainty,
dress-wearing feminine finesse. The two were practically inseparable and even
shared a common nemesis in Poison Zoomack. The moustached miser wanted nothing
more than to steal Rootie’s magic Kazootie (a kazoo that allowed him to do
“anything”) and the dots from Polka Dottie’s dress.

We’re really not sure why he wanted the dots.

Even so, the series has enjoyed a long run and a faithful enough fanbase to
spark an eventual character revival. The original show lasted five years
(1950-1955). A new version of the show, hosted by Ira G Gallen appeared in 1995
on Manhattan cable channel 35.