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| PERFORMER | Charlotte Rae |
| DEBUT | 1971 |
Rafael gives Molly a ride on the tire swing.
Molly was a mail carrier who appeared on Sesame Street in season 3.
In her first episode, Molly delivered a letter to Bob inviting him to a party. Her coy manner indicated that she may have had a crush on Bob, although she later spoke in a similar way about a gentleman named Melvin during a presentation about the letter M. This character trait continued with Molly's run on the show, where she always wore her emotions on her sleeve. She can also get extra emotional pretty easily, such as being affected by Big Bird's letters from his silly cousin, Monroe (who often tricks them by talking about events that usually aren't very happy), even after the letters reveal that Monroe was only joking.
In one episode, she begins a friendship with Oscar the Grouch as he intently listens while she complains about how much mail people send and her having to walk around all day to deliver it. Her sore feet have also worked their way into other episodes, so much so that in Episode 0344, a child visitor comments that she remembers seeing Molly on the show complaining about them. While the postal route through Sesame Street can be strenuous at times (as she has Luis imagine in Episode 0293), she still remains friendly and helpful to her neighbors.
Not all of her appearances focus on her job. In Episode 0350, Molly struggles with age-appropriate behavior when she wants to try out the tire swing in the yard; she relents, and finds that nobody seems to mind or criticize her. Later, her friends do seem to ignore her when she is dressed in a fancy hat and dress, realizing later that they didn't recognize that she is still Molly, uniform or not. Late in the season, during Episode 0401, she encourages Prairie Dawn's dream of becoming a carpenter by singing "Believe in Yourself," as well as tricking a shifty salesman who tries to con her into buying a number 6.