Lefty the Salesman



Lefty was a shady-looking salesman in a trench coat who appeared on Sesame Street. He spoke in a whispery voice and usually tried to sell Ernie such esoteric items as a letter U or O, an invisible ice cream cone, and an empty box. His sales pitches were 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.

Some of Lefty's sketches involved his attempts to carry out assignments from his boss, such as planning to steal a Golden AN. It is in this role that he received his name, however in Sesame Street merchandise, such as storybooks and record albums, he is usually referred to simply as "The Salesman."

Individual Sketches
Lefty tries to sell an 8
 * Lefty wants to sell an 8 to Ernie, who ran out of money buying some 9s. Ernie then offers to sell Lefty the 9s, which he refuses, shaking his head and saying "oh, why me?". Based on Ernie's reaction to him, this may be Lefty's first appearance.

Empty box
 * Lefty wants to sell Ernie an empty box, explaining that he can fill the box with things. Ernie wants an empty box, but doesn't have any money. However, Bert brings a box of cookies, and Ernie throws the cookies out, giving him an empty box.

Lefty sells air
 * Lefty successfully sells Ernie some air, but when Ernie wants to show it to Bert, Bert accidentally causes Ernie to drop it. According to Bert (who didn't know what Ernie had), "It's not like it dropped into thin air".

Lefty tries to sell a U
 * 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.

Stop Sign
 * Lefty tries to sell Ernie a stop sign.

P and R
 * Lefty holds a sign that says R, and Ernie holds a sign that says P. Spinney plays Lefty in this sketch.

Scale
 * Lefty wants to sell a scale, using vegetables to demonstrate (all of which weigh two pounds). Ernie already has a scale at home, but he would like to buy the vegetables.

Invisible Ice Cream Cone
 * Lefty sells Ernie an invisible ice cream cone. Ernie pays for it with an invisible nickel.

Would You Like to Buy an O?
 * Lefty attempts (in song) to sell Ernie an O, which only costs a nickel. (Ernie does not buy it.) This is Lefty's most famous skit.

Picture of Four Elephants
 * Lefty wants to sell Ernie a painting of a tree, which he says contains four elephants. However, Ernie doesn't see the four elephants, so Lefty points them out (they are actually spaces in trees that are shaped like elephants). After buying it, Ernie tries to pull this trick on Bert, who instantly notices the elephants. Note: For most of this sketch, Lefty has ears, but after the camera zooms in on the painting, they mysteriously disappear. This is most likely due to the sketch being filmed at different times.

Lefty tries to sell a snowman
 * Lefty wants to sell Ernie a snowman, but it keeps melting.

The Golden An
 * Lefty's boss tells Lefty to steal the golden an, take it to the tan van, 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 and saying "I should have ran".

Lefty recites the Alphabet
 * Lefty recites the alphabet to his boss, and gets a lollipop in return.

Carrot delivery - some/more/all
 * 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.

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.