Nogginoid

***Nogginoid*** was a series of ten-second bumpers that aired on Noggin from 1999 to 2002. Each one features a little-known fact, usually about a random subject like aardvarks, eyebrows, or socks.

## Logline

The bumpers had an official summary on Noggin's programming site, which was:

*"How much do you really know about Swiss cheese? Eyebrows? Each day Noggin features a variety of factoids written and researched by kids about what sparks them. Visitors to noggin.com can access the entire library of Nogginoids, and are encouraged to contribute their own, for possible use on television. (Imagine that: Your very own Nogginoid — a star!)"* (source)
## History

Initially, each day had its own Nogginoid subject. Submissions from Noggin.com became additions as well. At first, they were only aired during the inner breaks of certain shows, such as *Sesame Street Unpaved*, *The Electric Company*,  and *3-2-1 Contact*. Eventually, they branched out to the breaks in between shows and were featured as part of *Phred on Your Head Show*. They had a page designated to them on Noggin.com.

A small, distinct group of Nogginoids were featured in the *Sesame Street Unpaved* documentary on TV Land and also aired during the overnight shows. These featured a special claymation bumper (seen above) and facts about *Sesame Street*.

## Topics

The Nogginoid bumpers covered a variety of topics, including:

* Aardvarks
* Belly buttons
* Chocolate
* Eyebrows
* Freckles
* Gum
* Hiccups
* Itches
* Ketchup
* *Sesame Street*
* Thumbs
* Tongue

## Segments and transcripts

### Aardvarks

* **The word "aardvark"**: *Aardvark. A-A-R-D-V-A-R-K. Ever wonder why it starts with two A's? Me too.*

* **Aardvarks' teeth**: *You know how your teeth grow to be one size, and then stop? Well, an aardvark's teeth never stop growing. [Wow!] Never.*

* **Aardvarks' tongues**: *Aardvarks don't suck food up their nose. They actually trap insects with their long, sticky tongue.*
* **Origin of the word "aardvark"**: *"Aardvark" is an African word that means "earth pig." However, aardvarks are not related to pigs in any way.*
* **How many insects aardvarks eat**: *In one night, an aardvark can swallow up to 30,000 insects.*

### Belly buttons

* **What a belly button is**: *Your belly button is actually a scar from the umbilical cord that once attached you to your mom.*

* **Where a belly button is**: *When you need to find the middle of your body, just point to your belly button. Have you found it?*

### Chocolate

* **History of chocolate**: *A long, long time ago, chocolate was a delicacy only for kings and queens and royalty. Now it's chocolate for everyone. Long live the cocoa bean!*

* **Ingredients of chocolate**: *What makes chocolate so chocolatey? Bitter cocoa beans make a distinctive flavor, sugar makes it sweet, and milk and cocoa butter make it smooth and creamy. It's the perfect chocolatey combination!*

* **Milk used for chocolate**: *A factory in Pennsylvania uses 700,000 quarts of milk to make chocolate every day. That's 50,000 cows to work at over time.*

* **Quetzalcoatl and chocolate**: *The Aztec people have their own god of chocolate called Quetzalcoatl. They would roast cocoa beans and drink chocolate drinks to honor him. Here's to Quetzalcoatl!*

* **Swiss chocolate**: *In the United States, each person eats about 9 pounds of chocolate a year. In Switzerland, each person eats around 20 pounds of chocolate a year. Is that fair?*

* **White chocolate**: *White chocolate is actually not chocolate at all because it doesn't contain cocoa powder.*

### Eyebrows

* **Eyebrows and the Sun**: *Your eyebrows are like built-in sunglasses. They help keep too much sun from hitting your eyes.*

* **Eyebrows in Egypt**: *Women in early Egypt removed their eyebrows because they considered an eyebrow-less face a more attractive look.*

### Freckles

* **Freckles, speckles**: *Freckles are speckles. Freckles, speckles!*

* **The word "freckly"**: *If you have a lot of freckles, you're "freckly!"*
* **Freckles are like spots**: *You could think of freckles as tiny versions of spots like leopards and dalmatians have... except less furry.*

### Gum

* **Mint plants for gum**: *In the United States, over 55 square miles of farmland, that's 30,500 football fields, are used just to grow mint plants for chewing gum.*

### Hiccups

* **Causes of hiccups**: *You can get hiccups by eating too quickly, breathing in too much air, or just by being nervous and excited.*

* **Getting rid of hiccups**: *You've probably heard lots of ways to get rid of hiccups: breathing into a paper bag, drinking a gulp of water, even having someone jump out and scare you. How do you get rid of your hiccups?*

### Itches

* **Itch in Spanish**: *Itch in Spanish is picar.*

* **Thinking of itches**: *Sometimes just thinking about an itch can make you itch. Try it! Itchy?*

* **Why we itch**: *The most common causes of itching are dry skin, allergies, poison ivy, and insect bites.*
* **How to get rid of an itch**: *If* *you wanna get rid of an itch, try using some aloe vera lotion, baking soda, or just a cool moist cloth.*

### Ketchup

* **Ketchup per year**: *The average American kid eats 3 bottles of ketchup a year.*

* **Ketchup's ingredients**: *The main ingredients of ketchup are tomatoes, vinegar, corn syrup, onion powder, and salt.*

* **Why ketchup was invented**: *Ketchup was not invented to make your burger taste better, it was invented to keep food from spoiling. The vinegar used in ketchup helps food stay fresh without being refrigerated.*

### Knuckles

* **Wrinkles:** *Your middle knuckles have more wrinkles than any other joint on your body.*

### Macaroni and cheese

* **Macaroni packaging:** *In about the time it takes to say "Please pass the macaroni and cheese", a factory in Illinois can fill 350 boxes of this stuff.*
* **Elbow noodles:** *Macaroni noodles are sometimes called "elbow noodles" because they're shaped like your elbow. Take a look at your elbow, does it look anything like your lunch?*

### Shoelaces

* **What they do:** *Shoelaces help hold your shoes on your feet.*
* **Shoestrings:** *Shoelaces are sometimes called shoestrings. Have you ever had shoestring French fries? They look just like shoelaces, but they taste better.*
* **Aglet:** *The little plastic tip on the end of your shoelace is called an aglet.*

### Sloth

* **Sloth claws:** *Sloth claws are so sharp and so strong, that sloths can hang from tree branches, even while they're asleep.*
* **How sloths get water:** *Sloths never drink. They get their water from eating juicy leaves and licking dewdrops.*
* **Sloths stay in trees:** *Sloths spend almost all of their lives in trees. The only time they go to the ground is to change trees.*

### Soap

* **Invention:** *Soap was invented about 4,000 years ago, not to clean skin but as a medicine.*
* **The word "Soap":** *The word soap comes from the soapwort plant, which was used to clean skin about 3,000 years ago.*

### *Sesame Street*

* **Bert and Ernie's shirts**: *Both Bert and Ernie wear striped shirts. However, Ernie's stripes run horizontally, which make him look more relaxed. Bert's run vertically, which make him look more uptight. [Bert yells, "Ernie!"] See what I mean?*

* **Big Bird and Mr. Hooper**: *Big Bird could never get Mr. Hooper's name right. [Big Bird: "Oh, wait, Mr. Looper?"] [Mr. Hooper: "Hooper!"] He also called him Mr. Snooper, Mr. Pooper, Mr. Scooper, and Mr. Cunningham.*

* **Characters' ages**: *Grover is written to represent the psychological age of a four-year-old. Big Bird is written to represent the psychological age of a six-year-old. Count von Count is written to represent the psychological age of a 1,832,652-year-old...and still counting. [Count: "One!"]*

* **Cookie Monster**: *Contrary to popular belief, Cookie Monster rarely eats cookies. Because chocolate oil and grease can damage a Muppet, prop makers paint rice cakes to look like the cookie du jour.*

* **Mr. Hooper's first name**: *Mr. Hooper didn't have a first name until the episode where he received his GED. [Hooper!] On his diploma, he became Harold Hooper. [Harold!]*

* **The letter O**: *"Sesame Street" has been brought to you by the letter O more than 210 times. [Oh!]*

### Thumbs

* **Sticking your thumbs in your ears**: *Putting your thumbs in your ears and wiggling them at the same time is the universal sign for "nah nah na nah nah!"*

### Tongue

* **The bumps in your tongue**: *Those bumps in your tongue are not taste buds. The taste buds hide underneath those bumps.*