Oscar's trash can is the private home of Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street & is situated between the stoop of 123 Sesame Street & Big Bird's nest. Just like Snoopy's doghouse, Oscar's trash can is considerably deeper than one would initially suspect. The seemingly bottomless domain houses a variety of diverse Grouch amenities & luxuries. 1 tradition is, whenever Oscar sings "I Love Trash", his signature song, he is always shown at his trash can, & nowhere else.

Contents 1 History 2 Visitors 3 Appearances 3.1 TV/Movies/Specials 3.2 Books 4 Behind the scenes & photo gallery 5 Inventory 6 Trivia 7 Sources 8 See also

HistoryEdit

In the earliest season 1 episodes, the trash can was atop a big blue crate adjacent to a wooden crate at right, w/ a few more trash cans around; later on in the season till 1974, the base & the crate were replaced, the latter by a trunk, with a trash pail on top of another crate at left.

Oscar shares his trash can w/ several pets. This diverse menagerie includes goats, a horse, elephants (notably Fluffy), a dolphin, & his favorite pet of all time, his beloved pet worm Slimey. Oscar's niece, Irvine, his girlfriend Grundgetta & other Grouch friends & relatives are frequent visitors.

For the most part very few of the "nice" residents of Sesame Street dare venture into the bowels of the municipal waste container. However, key exceptions have occurred over the years. While Big Bird was helping get ready for Miles' arrival on Sesame Street, a lonely Mr. Snuffleupagus entered the trash can to play catch w/ Fluffy in episode 2122. Wanda Cousteau sought refuge in the trash can in episode 3161 as a hiding place from the hungry Wolfgang the Seal. When Gina is studying to become a vet in episode 3787 she goes down into the trash can through the back door & successfully removes a splinter from Fluffy's foot w/ some elephants' tweezers. In a season 19 insert, Linda sat in the trash can when filling in for an "Ask Oscar" segment.

The inside of Oscar's trash can' was depicted on-camera for the 1st time in The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland. Oscar has a door in his trash can to take people to Grouchland USA. Elmo enters in search of his blanket & later a rescue party follows suit: Big Bird, Gordon, Maria, Telly Monster, Cookie Monster & Zoe. Big Bird in particular has a hard time fitting inside the trash can's narrow opening.

The inside of Oscar trash can was later shown in Episode 3997, though this time, the inside was a lot more like the normal inside of a trash can. In episode 0799, Oscar installed an Olympic-size swimming pool in his trash can.

The 1989 book What's in Oscar's Trash Can? & Other Good-Night Stories mentions the swimming pool as well as an ice-skating rink (which, on the series, has been used by Peggy Fleming) & a bowling alley. According to Sesame Street Unpaved other items include a piano, art gallery & hearth & a train set ("Grouch Central Station"). A 1970 article in Look Magazine also notes a pastry kitchen & a rococo staircase.^[1] In the Elmo's World installment Episode 4064, Elmo's World: "Farms" Oscar gives Elmo a tour of his farm (shown in darkness with only the pair's eyes visible). As established on various occasions, Oscar's trash can, apparently, has a back door.

In addition to being able to store a wide variety of items in his trash can, Oscar has also put holes into the bottom & can walk w/ his legs outside of the bottom. He 1st walked like this in episode 0276. He has continued to travel like this for many years, though he has also frequently been seen outside of the trash can. Outside of the show he has traveled w/ his legs sticking out of the bottom in Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, the Sesame Street Live stage shows & Don't Eat the Pictures. This feature was also utilized in the opening dance number in Julie on Sesame Street, where a series of dancing trash cans w/ fuzzy Grouch legs danced w/ Julie Andrews.

VisitorsEdit

• An octopus: Episode 0335
• Bernie the piano tuner: Episode 2107
• Grundgetta:
  • Episode 2107
  • Episode 3103
  • Episode 3121
• Mr. Snuffleupagus:
  • Episode 2122
  • Episode 3806
  • Episode 3960
• Sonny Friendly: Episode 3037
• Wanda Cousteau: Episode 3161
• Gina: Episode 3787
• Miles & his band: Episode 4079
• Olivia, David, Mr. Hooper, Buffy, Cody & Barkley in a Season 12 episode
• Natasha: Episode 3049
• Telly Monster: Episode 4188
• Elmo:
  • Episode 4064
  • Elmo's World: Farms
  • The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland
  • The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland: Sing & Play
• Zoe:
  • Episode 4064
  • The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland
• Linda (substitute for an "Ask Oscar" segment in Season 19)
• Big Bird: The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland
• Abby Cadabby:
  • Episode 4173
  • Episode 4248

AppearancesEdit

TV/Movies/SpecialsEdit

• Sesame Street (1969 - present)
  • Episode 1755
  • Episode 2159
  • Episode 2269
  • Episode 2538
  • Episode 2571
  • Episode 2579
  • Episode 2630
  • Episode 2648
  • Episode 2746
  • Episode 2776
  • Episode 2895
  • Episode 2899
  • Episode 3023
  • Episode 3085
  • Episode 3120
  • Episode 3152
  • Episode 3383
  • Episode 3482
  • Episode 3522
  • Episode 3695
  • Episode 3763
  • Episode 3815
  • Episode 3866
  • Episode 3891
  • Episode 3899
  • Episode 3959
  • Episode 3997
  • Episode 4041
  • Episode 4134
  • Episode 4143
  • Episode 4160
  • Episode 4260

BooksEdit

• "A Very Grouchy Christmas!"
• "A Grouch's Christmas"
• "From Trash to Treasure"
• "Grouches Are Green"
• "A Day in the Life of Oscar the Grouch"
• "What's in Oscar's Trash Can? & Other Good-Night Stories"
• "What's in Oscar's Trash Can?"
• "When Oscar Was a Little Grouch & Other Good-Night Stories"
• "What's in Oscar's Grouch Jamboree"
• "What's in Oscar's Grouchy Day"
• "What's in Oscar's Grouchy Sounds"
• "Oscar's Book"
• "Oscar's New Neighbor"
• "Oscar's Silly ABC's & Other Stories"
• "Oscar's Stinky Birthday"
• "Oscar's Rotten Birthday"
• "Oscar-the-Grouch's Alphabet of Trash"
• "Oscar's Bridge to Reading"
• "Prairie Dawn's Upside-Down Poem"
• "Clap Your Hands!"

Behind the scenes & photo galleryEdit

Oscar's trash can is also a favorite photo op for celebrities & other visitors to the set.

InventoryEdit

• TRASH: Sesame Street
• A stereo set: Episode 0812
• "The Queen Muddy" - a toy boat: Episode 3831
• A vacuum: Episode 0871
• Lighting: Episode 0666
• A pool: referenced on many occasions & in books, including "What's in Oscar's Trash Can? & Other Good-Night Stories"
• A trampoline: Episode 4173
• A staircase, pig pen, a play pen & China cabinet: Episode 3049
• A piano: Episode 2107 & others

TriviaEdit

• "Oscar's Trash Can" appears as a property on the Monopoly: Sesame Street Edition game board in place of Ventnor Avenue.
• An animatronic Oscar in his trash can has previously been featured outside the Sesame Street General Store.
• There is a foot pedal on the set piece which helps lift the lid up, but apparently Caroll Spinney has hardly used the foot pedal now, in 42 years.^[2]

SourcesEdit

1. ↑ Baer, Betty; "The Secrets of Sesame Street". Look Magazine, September 22, 1970
2. ↑ Martin P. Robinson, "Inside Oscar's Trash Can", Sesame Family Robinson, 11 April 2011.

See alsoEdit

• Trash Can
• Donald Grump's trash can
• Oscar's trash can on the Oscar the Grouch Wiki