# Why the "sesame" in Sesame Street? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 24, 2007, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sesame-in-sesame-street/397300 "2007-03-24T08:12:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Puzzler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d07c76/32.png) [@Puzzler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Puzzler)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sesame-in-sesame-street/397300/1 "2007-03-24T08:12:32Z")
Is there any particular reason for that? Or was it random? Is it even known? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sesame-in-sesame-street/397300/2 "2007-03-24T09:14:35Z")
[QUOTE=Puzzler] Is there any particular reason for that? Or was it random? Is it even known? [/QUOTE] > [@](#): > > [**How did Sesame Street get its name?**](http://www.sesameworkshop.org/aboutus/inside_faq.php#9040720) > After a long search for a catchy name, one of the show’s writers suggested Sesame Street. The name “Sesame” was meant to conjure up a sense of excitement and adventure, as in the Arabian Nights command, “Open Sesame!” Because the show was set in an urban street scene, Sesame Street seemed an ideal combination. Sesame Street is produced by the Sesame Workshop, but it appears that the Sesame Workshop is named after the show. CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Puzzler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d07c76/32.png) [@Puzzler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Puzzler)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sesame-in-sesame-street/397300/3 "2007-03-24T09:31:17Z")
Thanks! I was looking under “sesame street”, but all I could find was coloring pages etc… Didn’t think to search “sesame workshop”. Thanks again! Puzzler ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sesame-in-sesame-street/397300/4 "2007-03-24T09:46:13Z")
I cheated! Looked up “sesame street” on Wikipedia, that led me to their page on Sesame Workshop, which had a link to Sesame Workshop, then just searched around the Sesame Workshop site. CMC fnord! Always fun to give my citefu a little workout! ---
**Author:** ![flex727](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@flex727](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flex727)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sesame-in-sesame-street/397300/5 "2007-03-24T13:44:56Z")
I’d say they were looking for something totally inoccuous with alliteration and a bit of a sing-song rhythm. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sesame-in-sesame-street/397300/6 "2007-03-24T15:13:57Z")
To elaborate on the cite given by **crowmanyclouds** , it is a reference to the tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, from the Arabian Nights tales. The thieves had a magical cavern where they stored their treasures. To gain entrance, one had to stand outside the hidden cave entrance and say “Open, Sesame”, which caused to magcial doors to open and allow entry. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sesame-in-sesame-street/397300/7 "2007-03-24T15:28:38Z")
I support the “Open, Sesame” view. I seriously doubt it has anything to do with sesame seed buns which were a part of the McDonald’s jingle in the days when Sesame Street was first gaining traction. Has anybody ever seen a sesame bush or whatever it is that sesame seeds become if planted? Or a caraway bush? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sesame-in-sesame-street/397300/8 "2007-03-24T16:00:27Z")
Off-topic, but… I found it interesting that, in Mexico, the show is called “Plaza Sesamo”, even though the word for “sesame” is “ajonjoli”. It seems they went for a perhaps better-_sounding_ name rather than a strict translation. I don’t know what the standard phrase for “Open sesame!” (as in Ali Baba) is in Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sesame-in-sesame-street/397300/9 "2007-03-24T16:39:15Z")
[QUOTE=Zeldar] … Has anybody ever seen a sesame bush or whatever it is that sesame seeds become if planted? Or a caraway bush? [/QUOTE] Your wish is my command. [Open sesame!](http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Sesa_ind.html) [Open caraway?](http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Caru_car.html) CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sesame-in-sesame-street/397300/10 "2007-03-24T16:40:56Z")
[QUOTE=JKellyMap] Off-topic, but… I found it interesting that, in Mexico, the show is called “Plaza Sesamo”, even though the word for “sesame” is “ajonjoli”. It seems they went for a perhaps better-_sounding_ name rather than a strict translation. I don’t know what the standard phrase for “Open sesame!” (as in Ali Baba) is in Spanish. [/QUOTE] In Spanish, at least in Latin America, sésamo and ajonjolí are interchangeable. Speaking of Ali Baba, here he was explaining to the little ones in the Spanish “Plaza Sesamo” how to say and write “abierto” (Open): [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gfDm9p47g0U/hqdefault.jpg "Sesame Street - Ali Baba abierto") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfDm9p47g0U) And yes, he does say “Abrete Sésamo” (Open Sesame!) like I do remember the original tale was translated. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sesame-in-sesame-street/397300/11 "2007-03-24T16:42:51Z")
[QUOTE=crowmanyclouds] Your wish is my command. [Open sesame!](http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Sesa_ind.html) [Open caraway?](http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Caru_car.html) CMC fnord! [/QUOTE] Thanks for those links. Now I can no longer ask those specific off-the-wall questions. My ignorance has been knocked to its knees again. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sesame-in-sesame-street/397300/12 "2007-03-24T17:23:31Z")
[QUOTE=Zeldar] … Now I can no longer ask those specific off-the-wall questions. My ignorance has been knocked to its knees again. [/QUOTE] Well since your down there, In the name of My Most Royal Majesty, I knight thee. Arise, Earl of Cloves! CMC fnord! Eh, what’s up, Doc? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sesame-in-sesame-street/397300/13 "2007-03-24T17:40:18Z")
[QUOTE=crowmanyclouds] Well since your down there, In the name of My Most Royal Majesty, I knight thee. Arise, Earl of Cloves! CMC fnord! Eh, what’s up, Doc? 😃 [/QUOTE] Ain’t that good for toothaches and such? Or is that some sort of hoof? fnord! back atcha. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sesame-in-sesame-street/397300/14 "2007-03-24T18:07:47Z")
[QUOTE=crowmanyclouds] Well since your down there, In the name of My Most Royal Majesty, I knight thee. Arise, Earl of Cloves! CMC fnord! Eh, what’s up, Doc? 😃 [/QUOTE] Sir Loin of Beef! Sir Ossis of liver! ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sesame-in-sesame-street/397300/15 "2007-03-24T18:59:27Z")
[QUOTE=Jake] Sir Loin of Beef! Sir Ossis of liver! [/QUOTE] Sir Face Tension Sir Charge Sir Cum Ference Sir Pent ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sesame-in-sesame-street/397300/16 "2007-03-24T19:40:08Z")
:smack: Gawd I wish I could find this on YouTube. But I remember seeing a bit dating back to circa 1968. It was a board meeting of television executives (all muppets, of course, but in suite and tie) trying to come up with a name for the new show. One of the execs says “This is a show for kids who don’t know their alphabet, can’t read or write, and don’t know their numbers yet? I have the perfect name for it: **HEY, STUPID**!” I guess you have to see it to appreciate it, but it was hillarious. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sesame-in-sesame-street/397300/17 "2007-03-24T19:59:46Z")
[QUOTE=pkbites] :smack: Gawd I wish I could find this on YouTube. [/QUOTE] Well, at least I found an [article](http://www.tvparty.com/lostsesame.html) about it. \* Stone used the Muppets in a comical film to promote the then-unnamed show in which the Muppets suggested what to call it. One Muppet proposed calling it simply “Hey, Stupid!”\* ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sesame-in-sesame-street/397300/18 "2007-03-24T20:45:00Z")
[QUOTE=pkbites] Well, at least I found an [article](http://www.tvparty.com/lostsesame.html) about it. \* Stone used the Muppets in a comical film to promote the then-unnamed show in which the Muppets suggested what to call it. One Muppet proposed calling it simply “Hey, Stupid!”\* [/QUOTE] Not the video, but a complete script with screenshots of that promotional pitch reel to PBS is in Muppet Wiki: > **[Sesame Street Pitch Reel](https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Sesame_Street_Pitch_Reel)** > > In 1969,\[1\] a promotional pitch reel was produced for the series that would become Sesame Street, starring the Muppets. The reel was intended as a sample to be shown to station representatives at NET (later to become PBS), as well as parents and... > [@](#): > > SCENE 10 > > Kermit still has one question, whether they’re really depending on “that bunch” to come up with a title. Back in the boardroom, where the remaining members are tired and haggard, a final suggestion occurs. Scoop, reasoning that the audience will be kids who don’t know how to read or write, suggests the title Hey, Stupid! > \*In Version 1, the other members look at him wearily and give signs of disapprovement. Scoop remarks, “No good, huh? … Eh, just a thought.” \* ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sesame-in-sesame-street/397300/19 "2007-03-24T22:17:52Z")
[QUOTE=Zeldar] Has anybody ever seen a sesame bush or whatever it is that sesame seeds become if planted? Or a caraway bush? [/QUOTE] Interesting that you should mention caraway! When I was in my early 20s I was a cast member in a show called “Caraway Street”. It was basically a Christian version of Sesame Street. The scripts and blueprints were all purchased from the company that came up with it. The blueprints showed how to build the set, and there were instructions for making puppets (though the actual puppet design was pretty open-ended). I played three human characters: myself, a crazy disc jockey named “TJ the DJ”, and an elderly man named Mr. Garcia, who ran the little grocery store. Additionally, I operated two puppets. There were four cast members in all, and each actor did the same thing: three human characters and two puppets. We did the performances every Sunday morning for the kids aged 5 to 12, I think. The scripts actually called for two separate casts, which alternated each week. It was a lot of fun 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sesame-in-sesame-street/397300/20 "2007-03-24T22:23:27Z")
[QUOTE=crowmanyclouds] Sesame Street is produced by the Sesame Workshop, but it appears that the Sesame Workshop is named after the show. [/QUOTE] The production company changed it’s name to reflect the show. It used to be Children’s Television Workshop. (CTW) From : > **[Sesame Workshop](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children's_Television_Workshop)** > > Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit educational television production and media company that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's programs—including its first and best-known, Sesame Street—that have been televised internationally. Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett developed the idea to form an organization to produce the Sesame Street television series. They spent two years, from 196... Originally founded by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morriset to produce Sesame Street, the company, currently run by President and CEO Gary E. Knell, has since produced many other shows and a variety of multimedia content. The CTW name was changed to Sesame Workshop in 2000 to reflect the company’s reach into new media and capitalize on the worldwide recognition provided by the Sesame Street name. Around the same time this happened, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting logo also changed. Also: [http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/childrenste/childrenste.htm](http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/childrenste/childrenste.htm) has way more info on CTW’s history. (And seconds that CTW produced Sesame) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-sesame-in-sesame-street/397300.md?page=2)