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Rubber Duckie used by Ernie on Sesame Street

National Museum of American History

Object Details

Description (Brief)
Ernie, one of the main characters of the children’s television program Sesame Street, enjoys taking bubble baths with this rubber duck toy. He often sings the song “Rubber Duckie” about his beloved rubber duckie. The song was released as a single and peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 26, 1970.
Sesame Street (1969-present) is the longest-running children’s television series in American history, and one of the most influential and impactful programs in the history of the medium. First developed by producer Joan Ganz Cooney to use all the entertaining tools of commercial television to teach preschool aged children, the series was also a notable effort to use public television to reach minority and low-income communities who otherwise lacked educational opportunities. The series combines live action sequences set in a Harlem-like neighborhood of urban brownstones and small businesses with animated segments, catchy modern music, popular culture parodies, and integrates Jim Henson’s Muppets, a memorable mélange of entertaining scenes that have made Sesame Street a favorite of children and parents alike. Sesame Street is a production of Sesame Workshop (known before 2000 as the Children’s Television Workshop) and premiered on the National Educational Television (NET) network in 1969 before that early educational broadcaster transitioned to the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in 1970. Since 2016, Sesame Street has aired new episodes on HBO although reruns still air on PBS.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of Children's Television Workshop (through Robert A. Hatch)
ca. 1969
1970s
ID Number
1979.0952.02
accession number
1979.0952
catalog number
1979.0952.02
Object Name
Duck, Toy
Physical Description
rubber (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 4 in x 4 in; 10.16 cm x 10.16 cm
See more items in
Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
Popular Entertainment
Jim Henson
National Museum of American History
related object association proper name
Sesame Street
general subject association
Television
Subject
Children's television programs
Television broadcasts
Children's television programs
Record ID
nmah_670108
Metadata Usage (text)
CC0
GUID (Link to Original Record)
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ab-7783-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
Rubber Duckie used by Ernie on Sesame Street
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
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