Chasin' The Clouds Away with Vintage Sesame Street

I have a soft spot in my heart for Bert and Ernie and I'm betting you have a favorite Sesame Street character or two as well.

A 1996 survey found that 95% of all american preschoolers had watched the show by the time they were three years old. In 2008, it was estimated that 77 million americans had watched the series as children. source: wikipedia

I limit the amount of tv I let my kids watch (which is funny because my husband is a tv junkie) so it says a lot that my toddler's first and only show for awhile was Sesame Street. It had been years since my daugher was preschool age and I watched it with her and prior to that it had been many more years since my own childhood love of Bert and Ernie.

I am enjoying my newfound nostalgia for Sesame Street and over the past year I have been snatching up Sesame Street goodies. I don't think I have bought a single thing from Toys R Us or other retail stores, though. No Elmo for me! It is the vintage stuff from the 70s and 80s that I love to find and I've had some luck at local garage sales, thrift stores and online. I love the old Fisher Price Sesame Street toys and I have managed to find a few in my travels, like the record player and television toys shown here with my little man:

Despite my slightly negative comment about Elmo, that is in fact an Elmo toy in the background of the image above, a gift from Grandma :)

The other night, I was at my favorite local thrift store and I scored a new in package 1970s western theme Cookie Monster book that included a moveable paper puppet. My ten year old girl loved this just as much as her brother did!

I love to share my vintage treasures in my etsy shop. Here is an adorable little jumpsuit I sold awhile back. Corduroy, peter pan collar, zipper front, Sesame street print... I will never forget how amazing this thing was!

Members of the Vintage Kiddo Collective and several other fabulous etsy sellers have some classic Sesame Street items that you can snatch up right now. A few of my favorites are below. Just click on the images to be taken directly to the etsy shops.

Jeannie at Sweet Shop Vintage