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The Evolution of Ernie (1969-present)

Image	As seen in	Year	Notes
	Sesame Street Season 1	1969	The first Ernie puppet sports a pink and orange shirt, and, at times, a pink nose. During the pilot episodes, Jim experimented with Ernie's eye focus; at one point he looked downwards instead of upwards.
	Sesame Street Season 2	1970	Ernie wears a red-blue pattern sweater instead of a purple-orange one. His nose changes from pink to red.
	Sesame Street Season 3	1971-1976	Ernie's eye focus is improved, and he has a brighter orange skin tone.
	Sesame Street	1983-1992	Ernie's head becomes rounder and taller making it slightly less football-shaped.
	Sesame Street	1993-present
Predecessor Puppets and Planning
	Moldy Hay from Sam and Friends	circa 1960	Distinct from the paper mache humanoid characters like Sam, Moldy Hay's orange fleshy skin and wide-mouthed grin are traits that would later be refined into Ernie.
	Design sketch for Sesame Street	circa 1969	Early sketches bear a closer similarity to Moldy Hay, with messier hair, and in some images, enormous ears. Contrast is established between Ernie's horizontal stripes and round-faced look and Bert's vertical stripes and leaner appearance.