This week on Fisher Price Friday I'd love to show you the Play Family Sesame Street #938. This set was made between 1975-1978 and has quite a few pieces including 8 Sesame Street little people! It was also the very first Fisher Price Little People (FPLP) set to be made entirely of plastic.
Sometimes referred to as the Sesame Street Apartments, this set has 4 interior rooms. It has a living room, bedroom, kitchen and store. Each side has it's own entrance and the buildings are connected by a chalk board center. That way kids can play and learn, very Sesame Street.
The top of the set has a white handle that connects with the other side when closed for easy carrying. Well, as easy as can be considering it's a big set that's on the heavy side. This isn't one for the littlest kids to carry around. Each side has a different styled roof. The "brownstone" has a flat top with brick edge and the other a slanted smooth top.
The lithographs on this set are quite impressive. There are stickers everywhere and they are so detailed with familiar views of the "real" Sesame Street. I have so many photos to show you! :) This first one is of the right side of the playset when it is closed. You can see kids peeking out from the second story window. Below them is a man looking out of a Fix-It shop window. The other side has Big Bird's mailbox and familiar doors.
The left side when closed has the tire swing, back entrance, fire escape and exposed brick. Even a bit of brick showing through the facade.
This area is covered when the set is closed and it has a colorful and vivid "painting" on the brick wall of a sun, bird and a blue doorway covered in ivy. Bert is hanging out on one of the little pegs that stick out of the base. I'm assuming they are for characters to sit on, but I don't know for sure.
The opposite side has Bert & Ernie's open bathroom window which shows his ducky sitting on top of the bathtub. The brick peeking through and the basement window are nice touches.
The fire hydrant corner piece is exclusive to this set and is designed to fit in the corner when the set is open. You can also see the newsstand, Oscar and Bert. The newstand is another exclusive (and movable) piece, it has a lithograph of magazines and newspapers. There is also a blue mailbox (seen in the first photo on the right) that says "Mail" across the front. That makes it different from the other plain (sticker free) blue mailboxes in different FPLP sets.
The light post can stand anywhere and is an exclusive item. It says "Sesame Street" on the other side.
Now lets go inside. This is Bert and Ernie's bedroom/apartment. It has a lithograph of their bathroom complete with claw tub and yellow ducky of course. Also the scrub brush hanging on the door knob. Adorable! There is a painting of a pigeon for Bert as well as his and his towels hanging on a towel rack. The set came with two personalized twin beds that could be yellow, orange or brown (same for all of the furniture in the house).
The other wall in Bert and Ernie's bedroom has a whimsical fish mobile (not the only FPLP set to have this mobile, the nursery school #929 had one like it too), toy chest and Bert's bottle cap collection. Also a helmet, brown bear and a lovely photo of Bert and Ernie. The CTW stands for "Children's Television Workshop". Finally, the "linoleum" colored floor has two records on it "C is for Cookie" and "Grover Sings the Blues". So detailed!
The first floor has Bert and Ernie's kitchen. There are lithographs of a wood floor and one wall has a full kitchen. There is a plant on the refrigerator, pot holders hanging below the sink, a pie in the oven and a coffee pot on the stove.
The set came with a round table and two captain's chairs. However, this isn't the original table. The table should have a lithograph of two place settings and a pork chop platter. The kitchen furniture should be the same color as the living room furniture (which should be a different color than the bedroom).
The opposite side of the kitchen has the front door and a step into the room. The wall has a clock, painting of the Count, potted plants, and a bookshelf complete with record player and books.
Now to the other side of the set, the living room and Mr. Hooper's store.
The living room is upstairs and it belongs to Mr Hooper. It has wood floors and a big area rug. The wall shows a desk with wastebasket, flowers and pencil cup. There is a coat hanger that's full with his straw hats, shop apron and an umbrella. There is a painting on the wall of Big Bird that's signed "To my good friend Mr Hooper".
Mr Hooper can relax in his two seater couch while watching Sesame Street on his television. He should also have a coffee table. The furniture could be brown, gold or orange.
This is the view of Mr Hooper's bedroom. It has a brass bed, night stand with books, alarm clock and green carpet. The wall in the living room has a floor lamp and "Home Sweet Home" painting. Too bad there wasn't a Mrs. Hooper.
On the first floor is Mr Hooper's store. The set came with this lunch counter. It has two blue seats on one side and a flat area for Mr. Hooper to stand on the other. The top has a lithograph of two meal place settings.
Here is a better view of the wall behind the counter. I love how creepy Big Bird looks peeking through the window. :) The wall has lots of items including a cake, ice-cream cones and cups a cash register and a sign advertising key rings. The floor is a square and diagonal linoleum pattern.
The opposite side of the store has a wall with books, balls, boats and other toys to sell. There is also a pay phone and a open phone book.
Now to the outside. The brownstone has the address "123" over the door. There are lithographs on the base showing a grate. The side of the building is detailed with trim over the windows, edges on the hand rails of the stoop and decorative touches on the roof. Does it feel like Sesame Street to you?
Mr. Hooper's store has a brown door and no steps. He has a window where he can serve customers out the front. The lithographs include a blue and white store canopy, two tone brick upstairs, door with leaded glass windows next door and of course a Hooper's Store sign. Isn't it impressive? So much architectural detail on this one. I doubt kids could appreciate it as much as us grownups.
Last but not least are the people. From left to right we have: Grover, Ernie, Bert, Gordon, Susan, Mr. Hooper, Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Oscar. The original set came with all of these figures except Grover. He came in a separate Sesame Street figures pack (and there are more of them, did you see Roosevelt Franklin looking out of one of the windows in a prior photo?). All of these pieces are plastic. Big Bird should have a brown nest to sit in but I don't have one.
The Oscar pictured here is the newer version (1976+) because his trash can does not have a lid.
The Oscar pictured here has a lid, so he was made before 1976. I'm getting these people ready to sell in my Etsy store.
Now that you've seen it all let me tell you what is missing (besides what I mentioned before). The green garbage truck that says "Sesame Street Sanitation" on the side. I used to have one, it is pictured here with the Clubhouse #927 photos. Also the white 6 rung ladder. Not to be confused with the 5 run ladder that goes with the A-Frame (although they look very similar). The set also came with a box of white chalk and a yellow eraser.
Whew, that was a lot of photos. I think I showed you every inch of that set! I hope you enjoyed your visit to Sesame Street. Is anyone else humming the Sesame Street theme song right now? I know I am.
The original set came with 18 blocks made of plastic. The blocks were in sets of 6 different colors: blue, green, orange, yellow, purple and red. The shapes were triangles, circles and squares. They fit on 6 wooden dowels made in each of the different colors. 
