Lefty the Salesman
From Muppet Wiki
Lefty is a shady-looking salesman in a trench coat who appears on Sesame Street. He speaks in a whispery voice, and usually tries to sell Ernie such esoteric items as a letter U or O, an invisible ice cream cone, and an empty box. His sales pitches are rarely successful.
Lefty is best known for singing "Would You Like to Buy an O?" to a skeptical Ernie. This song appeared on the 1971 LP The Muppet Alphabet Album. The song shows off Lefty's memorable catchphrase, a breathy "Riiiight!"
Although Lefty was primarily performed by Frank Oz, Caroll Spinney played Lefty in a few segments from Season 1. An excerpt of one such segment appears in A&E's Biography: Sesame Street.
Some of Lefty's sketches involved his attempts to carry out assignments from his boss, such as planning to steal a Golden AN. Lefty's boss is the only character who refers to him as "Lefty"; in Sesame Street merchandise, such as storybooks and record albums, he is usually referred to as "The Salesman."
Contents |
Individual Sketches
| Picture | Summary | Earliest Known Appearance | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
 | 8 | Episode 0079 | Lefty wants to sell an 8 to Ernie, who ran out of money buying some 9s. Ernie then offers to sell Lefty his 9s. |
 | Empty box | Episode 0081 | Lefty wants to sell Ernie an empty box, explaining that he can fill the box with things like a pet mouse (if Ernie had one) and jellybeans (if they rained from the sky). Ernie wants an empty box, but doesn't have any money. However, Bert brings a box of cookies, and Ernie throws the cookies out so he can catch jellybeans from the sky.
Online: Web Video Player |
 | Air | Episode 0118 | Lefty sells Ernie some air, but when Ernie waves to Bert, wanting to show it to him, he drops it. According to Bert (who didn't know what Ernie had), "It couldn't have vanished into thin air." But Ernie sobs, "Yes, it could, Bert! It could!"
Online: Web Video Player |
 | U | Episode 0126 | Lefty tries to sell a letter U, which he claims to have had in his family for years. The "U" is actually a string tied to two small poles, made to look like a U. Caroll Spinney (instead of Frank Oz) performed Lefty in this skit. |
 | P and R | Episode 0129 | Lefty holds a letter R, and Ernie holds a letter P. Spinney plays Lefty in this sketch. |
 | Stop Sign | Episode 0179 | Lefty tries to sell Ernie a stop sign.
Online: Web Video Player |
 | Scale | Episode 0264 | Lefty wants to sell Ernie a scale. He uses two pounds of bananas and two pounds of apples to demonstrate how the scale works. Ernie is impressed. He already has a scale at home, but he'd like to buy the apples and bananas.
Online: Web Video Player |
 | Picture of Four Elephants | Episode 0278 | Lefty wants to sell Ernie a painting of a tree, which he says is a picture of four elephants. Ernie doesn't see the four elephants, so Lefty offers to show him the elephants if Ernie will buy the picture for a nickel. Lefty points out the elephants, which are actually spaces in the tree's branches. Ernie shells out for the picture. Ernie wants to pull the same trick on Bert, but Bert notices the elephants right away.
Video: Play-Along Games and Songs |
 | Carrot Delivery | Episode 0433 | Part 1: Lefty delivers some carrots to his boss. Part 2: Lefty delivers more carrots to his boss. Part 3: Lefty delivers the rest of the carrots to his boss. The boss reveals that the carrots are for his pet rabbit (a real rabbit), which he shows to Lefty. |
 | Lefty recites the Alphabet | Episode 0435 | Lefty recites the alphabet to his boss, and gets a lollipop in return. |
 | The Golden An | Episode 0668 | Lefty's boss tells Lefty to steal the golden an, take it to the tan van, and give it to Dan, who will give it to Fran. However, Lefty can't remember the plan very well and has to repeat it several times, which results in a police officer named Stan hearing the plan and giving him "ten days in the can for stealing the golden AN". The skit ends with Lefty being taken away, saying, "I should have ran".
Online: Web Video Player, Book: Sesame Street Unpaved |
 | Would You Like to Buy an O? | Episode 0751 | Lefty attempts (in song) to sell Ernie an O, which only costs a nickel. (Ernie does not buy it.) Video: Old School: Volume 1 |
 | Invisible Ice Cream Cone | Episode 0867 | Lefty sells Ernie an invisible ice cream cone. Ernie pays for it with an invisible nickel.
Online: Web Video Player |
 | Snowman | Lefty wants to sell Ernie a snowman, but it keeps melting. Book: Sesame Street Unpaved p.149 (mentioned in a list of items Lefty has sold) |
Book Appearances
- The Sesame Street Storybook (1972)
- The Sesame Street ABC Storybook (1974)
- Big Bird's Busy Book (1975)
- Grover's Little Red Riding Hood (1976)
- The Sesame Street Dictionary (1980)
International
Lefty's name on Sesamstrasse, the German counterpart to Sesame Street, is Schlemihl, a Yiddish expression for a habitual bungler.
