Oscar the Grouch puppet
date: label: date made
content: 1970s
name: label: user
content: Children's Television Workshop
label: designer
content: Henson, Jim
label: performer
content: Jacobson, Eric
label: maker
content: Muppets, Inc.
label: maker
content: Henson, Jim
label: maker
content: Sahlin, Don
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Oscar the Grouch puppet made by Muppets, Inc. for the Children's Television Workshop for use in the production of the television series <i>Sesame Street</i>, ca. 1970-1980. Oscar is a green furry monster who lives in a trash can on Sesame Street and frequently argues with the other Muppet and human characters. Despite his grouchiness, Oscar is a valued friend to the other characters on Sesame Street, demonstrating the importance of understanding, tolerance, and diversity.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Oscar the Grouch was originally performed by Caroll Spinney, who said that he based the character's voice on a cranky New York taxi driver. Jim Henson’s inspiration for the character was a rude waiter at a restaurant named Oscar's Salt of the Sea. In his original concept drawings for Oscar the Grouch, Henson imagined a spiky, grumpy-looking magenta monster. Due to the limitations of early color television, however, Oscar was redesigned with orange fur for his premiere on the first season of <i>Sesame Street</i> in 1969, and only changed to green for the second season. Oscar explained that this change was due to his vacation at Swamp Mushy Muddy where it was so damp that he became covered in slime and mold.</p>
label: Description (Brief)
content: <p> Oscar the Grouch is a live-hand puppet, which means that one of the performer’s hands is in the puppet’s head while the other is in one of the puppet’s arms, which has gloves for hands. Another puppeteer is usually needed to operate the other arm, which is known as right-handing. This particular Oscar the Grouch puppet was built in the 1970s. It was also used to perform the character Grandpa Grouch at some point in the show's run.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: Subject
content: Puppetry
label: Subject
content: Radio and television broadcasting
label: Subject
content: Television broadcasts
label: Subject
content: Children's television programs
label: general subject association
content: Television
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
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content: Popular Entertainment
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content: Family & Social Life
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content: Puppets
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content: Highlights from the Culture and the Arts Collection
label: See more items in
content: Jim Henson
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Muppets, Inc.
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1989.0540.01
label: accession number
content: 1989.0540
label: catalog number
content: 1989.0540.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: puppet
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: fabric (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 36 in x 24 in x 12 in; 91.44 cm x 60.96 cm x 30.48 cm