Ernie Through the Years

The Evolution of Ernie (1969-present)

Image	As seen in	Year	Notes
	Sesame Street Season 1	1969	The first Ernie puppet sports a purple and orange shirt, with yellow collar and cuffs (resembling that of a turtle neck 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.
File:Erniemid70's.jpg	Sesame Street Season 8	1976-1982	Ernie's skin is now darker orange antron fleece, instead of blanket fleece. Also, his head is considerably rounder.
	Sesame Street Season 14	1982-1985	Ernie's head becomes taller making it slightly less football-shaped. His skin color reverts back to a more vibrant orange. The collar and cuffs of his shirt also change, looking more like such of a regular shirt.
File:Ernie1980's.jpg	Sesame Street Season 17	1985-1995	Similar to the previous Ernie puppet, except the eyes are somewhat separated apart, and his hair is thinner.
	Sesame Street Season 27	1995-1999
File:Ernienow.JPG	Sesame Street	1999-present
Predecessor Puppets and Planning
	Moldy Hay from Sam and Friends	circa 1960	Distinct from the papier-mâché humanoid characters like Sam, Moldy Hay's orange fleshy skin and wide-mouthed grin are traits that would later be refined into Ernie.
File:Erniesketch.jpg	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.