No one saw Tickle Me Elmo coming. Retailers were blindsided by the plush, vibrating Sesame Street character’s popularity, which with low inventory numbers created a furor not seen since the Cabbage Patch Kids’ heyday. Shoppers plagued with “Elmo-mania” fought their way through the 1996 Christmas season, which resulted in a concussion for at least one Wal-Mart store clerk. Demand for the $28.99 battery-operated laughing Elmo was so frantic that some were listed in classified ads for up to $1,500.
The Tickle Me Elmo craze further cemented Elmo’s emerging status as the most popular character of the “Sesame Street” gang. He went on to star in two feature films, “The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland” and “Elmo Saves Christmas,” and guest star on “The West Wing.” He currently hosts the final 15 minutes of every “Sesame Street” episode in a segment entitled “Elmo’s World.”
