Do you need a sunny day to sweep those winter clouds away? Join us for a little stroll down the memory lane of merchandising, because there's nothing more sure to lift you out of your blues than a certain Muppet with a nose like an orange, a song in his heart, and a vibrating motor installed inside his belly.

Ray teaches Rob about the origins for this best-selling behemoth, including how a chimpanzee news anchor served as part of the original inspiration for its creation; the spinoffs that this red original spawned; why toy stores in the mid 90s should've been offering much better health insurance; and why we could all use a little more laughter, and Elmo, in our lives.

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TEAM

Ray Hebel

Robert W. Schneider

Mark Schroeder

Billy Recce

Daniel Schwartzberg

Gabe Crawford

Natalie DeSavia

ARTICLES

Mental Floss

New York Times - 1

New York Times - 2

New York Times - 3

People

Time

Times Union

EPISODE CLIPS

Commercial - Tickle Me Elmo

"Sesame Street Theme" 1998-2001

Sesame Street - We're All Monsters (updated version)

Rosie O'Donnell & Elmo - Do You Hear What I Hear

FROM THE ARCHIVE: Tickle Me Elmo, hottest holiday toy in 1996

The Tickle Me Elmo craze that caused a Walmart employee to get trampled, 1996

Christmas Through the Decades: The Terror of Tickle Me Elmo | History

Tickle Me Elmo Story 1996

Taz Sounds Ruff Ryders Karaoke

ADDITIONAL MUSIC & SOUND EFFECTS

"Happy Bee" and "Oh Xmas"

• Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

• Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0

• http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Additional Sound Effects from Final Cut Pro, iLife, and Logic Pro

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