There was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe

Rhea Perlman as the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe.

There was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe is an English nursery rhyme. First published in 1797, the origin and meaning of the rhyme are unknown, with some speculating a connection between shoes and marriage (with the tradition of a bride casting a shoe before leaving for her honeymoon), while others look for a link to a real person, such as Queen Caroline, who had eight children.

References

• The Old Woman Who Lives in a Shoe has appeared on Sesame Street on numerous occassions, including a Sesame Street News Flash.

• In a 1991 episode of Sesame Street, a hurricane blows the shoe house onto Big Bird's nest, and the Old Woman, played by Rhea Perlman, and her children soon come to reclaim it.

• In Abby Mix & Match Nursery Rhymes, Abby Cadabby takes on the role of the Old Woman, among others.

• In an episode of "Fairytale Detective" on Sesame Street, Miss Marble tried to find the Old Woman's shoe, which was found by a giant who tried it on.

• Bud Luckey created an animated segment for Sesame Street titled "The Old Lady Who Lived In a Nine." (EKA: Episode 0695)

• One of the books in the Read Along with Elmo series is The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe.

• The Muppet Babies tackle the rhyme in the Big Book of Nursery Rhymes & Fairy Tales.

• The Old Woman had so many rhinoceroses that she didn't know what to do in "Big Bird's Ridiculous Rhinoceros Rhymes" in The Sesame Street Treasury Volume 11.