Trash Cans in your Neighborhood

[Erine81981]

I know this might seem weird to be asking but have u ever wonder how theres so many trashcans that look just like Oscar's around the neighborhood. I have seen so many I just seem to think that a grouch is going to pop up and tell me to scram or get lost. I've seen so many I just seem to say "There goes another one of thoses grouches again." And I was wondering what do u ya'll think when u see trashcans that look just like a grouch would live in?

 

[D'Snowth]

Here's what I really think, I think "maybe I should steal this, cut a hole in the back of it, build a grouch puppet, and when people walk by it on the streets I can pop up my grouch puppet and say 'get lost'!"

 

[Infinity Sirius]

I used to have a trashcan's like Oscar's when I was younger and I always hoped that Oscar would pop out and talk with me. He never did *sigh*

 

[Censored]

I did have an Oscar puppet with a cardboard trash can as part of the box he came in.

 

[muppet maniac]

I did have an Oscar puppet with a cardboard trash can as part of the box he came in.

Sounds interesting.What company made that Oscar puppet and what year was it released?

 

[Censored]

Sounds interesting.What company made that Oscar puppet and what year was it released?

Oscar and several other "Muppet puppets" were relapsed in 1971 by Educational Toys, Inc. which was part of Topper Corp. I believe that these were the very first Sesame Street puppets that were distributed on the market. Cookie Monster was sold in a box with cookies printed on the side that could be cut out and fed to him (he had a hole in his mouth).

The monsters such as Cookie, Oscar, and Grover were made of cloth, but the original "human" muppets such as Bert, Ernie, and Roosevelt had rubber heads and hands, some had separate plastic eyes, and they all had realistic hair. Oscar and Cookie had a string that could be pulled to move their hands. Ernie, Bert, Grover, and Roosevelt came with a plastic stick that could be attached to one of their arms to control its movement.

The original Big Bird was a full bodied doll, with a hole in the back of his head to operate his mouth, and holes in his arms for hand movement. He would later be sold in puppet form as well.

I have an original Ernie in the box. Ernie is set up in a cardboard box with a brick wall shaped at the bottom. The back of the box has a television design printed on it and the "screen" can be cut out to put the puppet on television.

I also have the instructions that came with it. They're pretty interesting (at least to me). Here's some of what they say:

"The Ernie Muppet puppet can give your child many opportunities to express himself...At first your child may have trouble thinking of things to make the puppet do or say. The easiest way to help him is to let him watch the real Ernie on television...If you walk into the room while your child is playing with his puppet, say something like, 'Hi, Ernie. What's been happening to you today?' Such questions may coax even the shyest youngster into long conversations, now that he has a puppet to do the talking for him..."

(See, Sesame Workshop? The Children's Television Workshop always understood the concept of child psychology, even back in the dark ages of 1971. LOL)

These toys are truly classics and you can sometimes find them on eBay, thrift stores, garage sales, and flea markets.

 

[MuppetDude]

I've always wondered, how did the parts of the "Anything Muppet" puppet released in the 1970s stay on the puppet? Does anybody here have one?

 

[Censored]

I've always wondered, how did the parts of the "Anything Muppet" puppet released in the 1970s stay on the puppet? Does anybody here have one?

Unfortunately, that's one that I never had, but I do know of the one you're talking about. I'm guessing that they used Velcro.