Before there was Bruno, there was Carl.
Bruno and the Trashmen sing "Put It in the Trash Can."
Oscar and the sanitation team in Episode 2164.
Oscar's living arrangements frequently put him into contact with garbage collectors and sanitation workers. The relationship is often friendly, but has sometimes resulted in misunderstandings (Oscar's can taken by mistake) or acrimony (Oscar trying to hitch a free ride on the truck).
- The earliest trash collector associated with Oscar was Carl. He drove Oscar in a street cleaning can during the Grouch's campaign parade in Sesame Street Episode 0249. In Episode 0250, due to a miscommunicated note after Gordon acquires a shiny new garbage can, Carl puts Oscar and his can on his truck.
- In a variation on the premise, new garbage collector Charlie in Episode 0390 takes Oscar's can (minus Oscar) to replace it with a clean new one. Once the unique situation is explained, Charlie happily takes Oscar on his truck to collect his belongings from the dump.
- Bruno the Trashman has regularly carried Oscar's trash can to places periodically between seasons 10 and 24, effectively acting as his personal chauffeur. Drafts of the script for Episode 1259 begin with Bruno mistakenly taking Oscar's can to the dump, only for Oscar to explain his living situation, then deciding that he likes having his trash can carried. In the final aired version, however, Bruno is already carrying Oscar's can as a personal driver, without any confusion. In Episode 1328, Bruno does put Oscar's can in his truck by mistake (with Oscar briefly protesting before realizing he can visit the dump). Independent of Oscar, Bruno fronts his own musical aggregation of sanitation engineers, Bruno and the Trashmen.
- Episode 0810 - Although Biff and Sully do not work in the sanitation business, they offer to load things onto Luis' truck as the gang prepares to go to New Mexico. Luis points to all the stuff needed, but as Oscar's can is in the area, they mistakenly think they are supposed to load Oscar's trash can onto the truck (thus bringing Oscar with them to New Mexico).
- Episode 2164 - Oscar wonders why Hoots goes to sleep in the morning, and Hoots remarks, "Doesn't everybody?" Just then, the garbage men come and pick up Oscar's trash can so they can empty it! They hear Oscar's voice from inside, put his trash can back, and let him off with a warning. Hoots is astonished that Oscar does this every morning. Oscar answers, "Doesn't everybody?"
- Episode 4929 - After a brief visit at Hooper's Store, Oscar finds that his trash can has gone missing. In the end, it turns out that it was taken by a sanitation worker who accidentally put a dent in his trash can and took it to get fixed. The episode's intro also features an Anything Muppet boy whose mom is a sanitation worker.
Notes[]
- Apart from their interactions with Oscar, garbage collectors and street cleaners are also people in Your neighborhood.