Is Big Bird really 40 years old?

Does Big Bird know what kind of bird he is yet?

Are you a Sesame Streeter?

This is a series of ActiveRain History Station programs using United States postage stamps as our history book.

For other programs in this series on the ActiveRain History Station, simply click here.

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On this date in 1969, Sesame Street debuted on PBS. It is the longest running children's program on television, and has been watched by 74 million people (I'm not one of the 74 million-could be why I don't know my alphabet-qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnm). Eight million people continue to tune in each week in over 120 countries.

Sesame Street offered short segments featuring puppets, animation, and live actors, a format that was immensely successful. Over the years, though, some critics have blamed the show and its use of brief segments for shrinking children's attention spans. Whatever.

Other interesting items about Sesame Street and Big Bird:

1. Sesame Street muppets were created by Jim Henson (1936-1990).
2. Because it debuted on PBS, 67% of the nation, yet 1.9 million households tuned in.
3. "If you can hold the attention of children, you can educate them."—author Malcolm Gladwell. This seems to be a common theme each year if you watch the various local, state, and national "Teacher of the Year" awards.
4. The different segments of the show were originally called "teaching commercials."
5. Many songs have become classics, even to the extent of being recorded by music stars:
   ♫ "Rubber Duckie" was written in 1970, recorded by the Bostop Pops in 1971, and became a hit in Germany in 1996.
   ♫ "Bein' Green" was written in 1970 and recorded by Frank Sinatra and Ray Charles.
   ♫ "Sing" became a hit for The Carpenters in 1973.
6. Sesame Street has received 118 Emmy Awards through 2009, more than any other television program.
7. At the end of the first season, the Educational Testing Service reported that children who watched Sesame Street regularly were 62% more likely to recognize a rectangle.
8. Most people think that Big Bird is a canary, but in an episode of Sesame Street Big Bird, he said he was "more of a condor." On Hollywood Squares in 1976, he said he was a lark. After 40 years, other than being old, does he know yet what kind of bird he is?

Did you watch Sesame Street?  

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