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 things to Ernie, such as a letter U, an invisible ice cream cone, and an empty box. His sales pitches were rarely successful. One of his signature catchphrases was a breathy "Riiiight!"

Although 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. He is perhaps best known for his song Would You Like To Buy An O?

International
Lefty's name on Sesamstrasse, the German counterpart to Sesame Street, is Schlemihl, a Yiddish expression for a habitual bungler.

Individual Sketches
Lefty tries to sell an 8 (Episode 0169)
 * Lefty wants to sell an 8 to Ernie, who ran out of money buying some 9s. Based on Ernie's reaction to him, this may be Lefty's first appearance.

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 polls, made to look like a U. Caroll Spinney (instead of Frank Oz) performed Lefty in this skit. Note: According to Sesame Street Unpaved, there was a skit where lefty tried to sell a U which got bent so he tried to pass it off as a V, but in the clip that this user saw, it was a string made to look like a U, which would be hard to get bent. Was there another U skit?

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

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

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 accidently causes Ernie to drop it. According to Bert (who didn't know what Ernie had), "It's not like it dropped into thin air".

Stop Sign
 * Lefty attempts to sell a stop sign.

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.

Picture of Four Elephants
 * Lefty (with ears) wants to sell Ernie a painting of 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.

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

Book Appearances

 * The Sesame Street Storybook (1972)
 * The Sesame Street ABC Storybook (1974)
 * Big Bird's Busy Book (1975)
 * The Sesame Street Dictionary (1980)