SESAME STREET Memories: A Loaf of Bread, a Container of Milk…
November 13, 2009 by Kath Skerry
As SESAME STREET celebrates its 40th Anniversary this week, the internet has been bursting at the seams with tributes to a show that was, and continues to be, such an important part of early education for so many. These funny little puppets weren’t there for just the amusement of children. They always had an important lesson to share. But the best part of being a kid watching SESAME STREET is that you don’t know you’re learning a lesson. It’s all about the cute and funny little Elmo. Best friends Ernie & Bert. The always chipper Big Bird and the always grouchy Oscar. A Count who conveniently love to count (Ah Ah Ah). There’s Snuffy, the Cookie Monster and Grover, and don’t forget the early years when Kermit spent more of his time hanging out on Sesame than he did with his the likes of Fozzie the Bear and Miss Piggy.
Seeing so much about SESAME STREET this week really brought back some fond memories. But as I thought about it, there was one memory that really stood out from the rest. In fact, hardly a week goes by when I don’t reference this particular SESAME STREET moment. It always seems to spring to mind whenever I have to go grocery shopping. An animated skit, first shown in 1972 (um, I watched it many years later — I just wanted to throw that out there), was developed to teach children about memorization through repetition. Well it worked. I’ve left my childhood way behind, but not this particular shopping list.
Does this ring a bell to anyone else?
Do you have a favorite SESAME STREET memory?
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YES! How could you not remember that one. Sadly, I also know (by sight, without having to play them) all of the other ones that popped up along the bottom once it was finished. The ladybug picnic! The alligator king! Love it…
I do agree with you Kathy, my family often refers back to that same line…
My favorite memory, was also the most traumatizing memory for me. It was not until many years later did I really appreciate the humor of Jim Henson and Frank Oz. But it was the E & B skit when the Count slept over. When the morning came and Ernie had not slept,because the count kept on counting. His eyes FREAKED me out!
Also, I can’t think of good SS memory without speaking of Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, then, because I could not wait every holiday season for it to be on PBS. Now, because I love to watch my kids watching it. When my 6 year old was 2 she used to take a small christmas tree decoration and her rollerskates and mimic the whole beginning Big Bird routine.
My favorite is the Madonna parody song “Cereal Girl.” Anybody remember that? Because of that I decided at age 5 that Madonna was my favorite musician 🙂
My favorite was the African Alphabet song and the pinball counting to 12-that pops in my head constantly, now I show the kids I nanny for clips from when I was young on you tube because I just love them so much more than the modern day SS. Well except for the addition of Abbey Cadabby, she is just so darn cute!!
Yay! This one was myy favorite, too. I remembered the stick of butter just from the title. I loved Sesame Street so much, I watched it in the morning and the afternoon. Come to think of it, that might be where I developed my TV habit…
I actually watched Sesame Street daily long after it was cool. I was probably almost 12 by the time I stopped tuning in regularly. Now I LOVE watching it with my little girl. It is still a cute show, but I have to admit that I often look at the old clips on youtube because they are so great: african alphabet, kermit the grog, ladybug picnic, the cartoon pinball machine that would count up to the # of the day, and the “little dollhouse” song are some of my favorites. When I was growing up, I thought that the muppets on Sesame Street was my favorite part, but now that I am older, I realize that most of the memories I have are from the little clips that they would show between scenes with the muppets. I wish they would bring back more Kermit and less Elmo’s world!
Thanks for the flashback.
Katie – I bought the Sesame Street anniversary CDs ‘for my kids’ just so I could have the African Alphabet song!! Such a brilliant show….
I loved ALL the old Sesame street – I keep getting the Ladybug Picnic stuck in my head whenever I see/hear it referenced. And c — I saw the Cereal Girl parody when I was older and was babysitting – I couldn’t believe all the parodies they had in SS that I didn’t get when I was younger. Made me love it even more. Another classic was “Rebel L”!
One of the classics.
That was when The Street was good…when Hooper was alive, and Elmo’s sellout phase was decades away.
The peice that scared me as a kid, but I love it looking back was “Yo-Yo Man”. When the lil’ boy got lost and some cracked-out dude appaeared out of thin air.
Other favorites:
– Grover “In/Out The Door (the disco song)”
– “U Really Got A Hold On Me”
– “Down Below The Street”
– “It’s A Rainy Day”
– “Letter B”
Ok, I am responding a solid 2 years after the fact, but…I loved this! Ever since I saw the skit sometime in the mid-late 70’s it stuck with me…although for some reason, I always thought it was a “quart” of milk, so after placing a bet with my sister on that (who said it was “container”), I obviously lost, but I still love this!
Yes! Finally someone writes about sesame
street the count.