--- description: The classic TV show debuted 45 years ago, on Nov. 10, 1969 title: 5 Things You Didn't Know About the Early Days of 'Sesame Street' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94fde5f8e3345bae/69876563cd684837dd0979fb/1101701123_400.jpg?branch=production&width=828&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 5 Things You Didn't Know About the Early (Sunny) Days of _Sesame Street_  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Nov 10, 2014 12:00 PM CUT  The Nov. 23, 1970, cover of TIME The Nov. 23, 1970, cover of TIMECover Credit: BILL PIERCE  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Nov 10, 2014 12:00 PM CUT The history of children’s television changed for good 45 years ago today, on Nov. 10, 1969, when the first episode of _Sesame Street_ aired. Though some adults took a little while to catch on, kids got it right away. Decades later, the show has become a cultural institution, peopled with puppets whose names are known around the world. But, in the spirit of _Sesame_, there are still plenty of things to learn. So let’s make like Count von Count and total up five surprising facts from TIME’s coverage of _Sesame Street_‘s first year: **1\. Within its first year, the show scored a hit song:** The song? “Rubber Duckie,” natch. Ernie’s anthem debuted in _Sesame Street_‘s fourth month on the air and, by the time the show made it to the cover of TIME, had spent nine weeks on the charts. Nor did it stop there: “Rubber Duckie” eventually sold over a million singles, and peaked at 16 on the _Billboard_ charts. **2\. Richard Nixon was a big fan:** In February of 1970, President Richard Nixon sent the show perhaps its most notable piece of fan mail. “The many children and families now benefiting from ‘Sesame Street’ are participants in one of the most promising experiments in educational television in the history of that medium,” he wrote. “The Children’s Television Workshop certainly deserves the high praise it has been getting from young and old alike in every corner of the nation.” **3\. Its format was originally inspired by commercials:** Though PBS-aired _Sesame Street_ may seem like one of the least commercial TV shows ever — even Kermit the Frog was deemed too commercial to appear on it — it was, ironically, inspired by that profit-minded world. As Children’s Television Workshop executive director Joan Ganz Cooney[ told TIME](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,840386,00.html "undefined") the week the show premiered, she realized that the aesthetics of advertising were far more advanced, and more appealing, than the aesthetics of children’s television at the time. “Face it—kids love commercials,” she said. That was why each episode of _Sesame Street_ contained a dozen short spots “advertising” letters, numbers and basic ideas. And the return-on-investment was one that would make any business-minded executive proud: with a budget of $28,000 per episode and an estimated audience for the first season of 7 million preschoolers a day, five days a week, the show cost less than a penny per child. **4\. Its educational benefit was immediately measurable — and for good reason:** Within the show’s first year on the air, the Children’s Television Workshop commissioned the Educational Testing Service (yes, the folks who bring you the SAT) to study whether it was making a difference. By looking at about 1,000 kids, mostly from disadvantaged families, the study [found](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,904487,00.html "undefined") that the more kids watched _Sesame Street_ the more they knew. A child who watched every weekday would see an average 19% increase in general knowledge. Younger kids, at the low end of the show’s 3- to 5-year-old target demo, were helped even more. In the years between _Sesame Street_‘s conception and when it finally aired, an education expert spent 18 months studying children’s’ attention spans, interests and eye movements so that the show could maximize the concentration it would get from its viewers. (One finding? No need to waste time with transitioning between segments; kids are fine with jumping from bit to bit with no extra introduction.) **5\. Though it’s now one of the most diverse shows on television,** **_Sesame Street_** **had to make changes to get there:** The human cast of the first season of _Sesame Street_ was fairly diverse from the get-go — the hosts comprised two white men and a black couple — but it also faced very modern-sounding criticism of the make-up of its staff and cast. The National Organization for Women suggested that its female host should have a job; within a year, she became a nurse. In addition, the show added a Spanish-speaking guest host and, behind the scenes, a female writer. **_Read TIME’s 1970_** **Sesame Street** **_cover story, here in the archives:_** [Who’s Afraid of Big, Bad TV?](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,943327,00.html "undefined") ### The Muppets' Most Famous Friends: 10 Epic Celebrity Cameos  Ricky Gervais takes a selfie with his castmates from Muppets Most Wanted during the movie's premiere at the El Capitan Theatre on March 11, 2014 in Hollywood, Ca. Kevin Winter—Getty Images  First lady Michelle Obama joins with Sesame Street's Elmo, left, and Rosalita for an announcement on a new initiative aimed at promoting healthier nutrition for school children on Octiber 30, 2013 in Washington, DC. Win McNamee—Getty Images  Tony Bennett performs with Elmo. Theo Wargo—WireImage/Getty Images  Willie Nelson is serenaded by Kermit the Frog at the Songwriters Hall of Fame's annual induction ceremonies. Richard Cockery—NY Daily News/Getty Images  New York Yankees' manager Joe Torre and Elmo compare noses before an exhibition game against Hideki Matsui's former team, the Yomiuri Giants, at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. Corey Sipkin—New York Daily News/Getty Images  Raquel Welch poses with Miss Piggy on The Muppet Show. Terry O'Neill—Getty Images  Oprah and Elmo attend the Sesame Workshop's Second Annual Benefit Gala on June 2, 2004 in New York City. Peter Kramer—Getty Images  Jimmy Kimmel interviews Miss Piggy. Carin Baer—ABC/Getty Images  Jay Leno interviews Miss Piggy on The Tonight Show on June 21, 1996. Margaret Norton—NBC/Getty Images  Liberace plays the piano with a little help from Rowlf. Evening Standard—Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3563830/sesame-street-trivia/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3563830/sesame-street-trivia/"},"headline":"5 Things You Didn't Know About the Early (Sunny) Days of Sesame Street","datePublished":"2014-11-10T12:00:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-15T19:37:09.986Z","description":"The classic TV show debuted 45 years ago, on Nov. 10, 1969","url":"https://time.com/3563830/sesame-street-trivia/","keywords":["Parenting","Children","Television","Education","pbs","kids","Sesame Street","TV"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94fde5f8e3345bae/69876563cd684837dd0979fb/1101701123_400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94fde5f8e3345bae/69876563cd684837dd0979fb/1101701123_400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Sesame Street Cover","caption":"Sesame Street Cover","creditText":"Cover Credit: BILL PIERCE","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3563830/sesame-street-trivia/","name":"5 Things You Didn't Know About the Early (Sunny) Days of Sesame Street"}}]}] ```