The Baker
vague memories and some transcripts of a long-lost classic series of skits
NOTE: Scan down for the transcripts for the numbers 2, 3, 5, and 10.
If you were a fan of the show back in the 60's and 70's, you'll remember these skits.
They were number skits starring a baker played by Jim Henson who always ended up falling down a flight of stairs, covering himself in cakes, pies or pastries of some sort.
Here's Jen Finlayson's memories:
The bit would start with a jazzy-animated rapid sequence of numbers ...
(neon-colour on black, I seem to remember)
... followed by very short segments of people or muppets with said number of things ...
(1 through 10 were produced. When you actually saw 1 or 10, I remember it being something of an event.
They were the rare ones, especially 1. I think I only saw that once. Oh, well, makes sense, actually.
Of course, they never show ANY of them anymore, that I've seen)
... and then kids' voices counting up to the number.
The grand finale of these sketches was Henson going down those stairs and getting covered with cake.
Gosh, it's fun to remember that! I think I had a Fisher-Price clicking movie viewer cartridge with that on it,
though where it is now only heaven knows (I bet it's worth a country fortune).
(TD Note: Golly, I hope so, I have one!)
Okay, so the numbers are flashing by etc. and the kids sing 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and then backwards.
Then there was a bit of a pause, kind of drumroll-like, while we were kept relatively in suspense
over what number it was going to be today, and then
... it flashes on the screen while the animation around it goes crazy and the kids sing (let's say it was six)
"Six! Six! Six! Six! Let's sing a song about six! How many is six?"
And then they'd go into the series of people or muppets with six things,
ending with Henson going downstairs and getting covered in pastry.
So, here's a rough transcription for the number 5, for example:
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one!
Five! Five! Five! Five!
Let's sing a song about five!
How many is five?
(Then the skits, and after the baker fell, they'd sing:)
And that's the song of five!
Slapped together from the memories of Jen Finlayson and SlvrSlprz
Here's the official transcript (no actions available yet) for the number 5 version
Five Song
sung by the kids
Music by Joe Raposo
Lyrics by Jim Henson
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one
One, two, three, four, five!
Five, five, five, five!
Let's sing a song of five!
How many is five?
Five horns: (Five horns are heard) One, two, three, four, five
Five dogs: (Five barks are heard) One, two, three, four, five
Five coconuts: (Five coconuts falling on the ground are heard) One, two, three, four, five
And that's the song of five!
Transcribed by CookieCountDawn via the Songs From The Street: 35 Years Of Music box set
Here's a couple of versions Mikealan802@aol.com remembers:
The Baker (The Number ‘2’)
sung by the kids
Music by Joe Raposo
Lyrics by Jim Henson
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
1 …
2! 2! 2!
Let’s sing a song of 2!
How many is 2?
(An African-American boy holds two ice-cream cones)
Boy: Two ice-cream cones.
Voice-over: 1, 2
(Man opens the ‘?’ door on the floor. It reveals two turtles.)
Man: Two turtles.
Voice-over: 1, 2
(Female teacher looks at a boy’s hand-drawn picture of a man with two heads)
Woman: Two heads?
Voice-over: 1, 2
(African-American man takes off his hat and has another hat on his head)
Man: Two hats.
Voice-over: 1, 2
(Girl is standing between two butterflies.)
Girl: Two butterflies!
Voice-over: 1, 2
Baker: Two … chocolate ... crème ... pies!
(Falls down the stairs and drops two chocolate crème pies)
Voice-over: And that’s the song of 2!
The Baker (The Number ‘3’)
sung by the kids
Music by Joe Raposo
Lyrics by Jim Henson
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
1, 2 …
3! 3! 3!
Let’s sing a song of 3!
How many is 3?
(Jim Henson is juggling three balls)
Jim: Three balls!
Voice-over: 1, 2, 3
(Boy sees a dish that has three peas)
Boy: Three peas!
Voice-over: 1, 2, 3
(Man opens the ‘?’ door. It reveals three Muppet crocodiles.)
Man: Three crocodiles!
Voice-over: 1, 2, 3
(Boy sees a hen flying away and leaves three eggs on the wall.)
Boy: Three eggs!
Voice-over: 1, 2, 3
(Woman sees three pigs in a baby’s carriage!)
Woman: Three little pigs?
Voice-over: 1, 2, 3
Baker: Three … birthday ... cakes!
(Falls down the stairs and drops three birthday cakes)
Voice-over: And that’s the song of 3!
Memorized by Mikealan802@aol.com
And here's the number 10 version from CookieCountDawn:
The Baker (The Number ‘10’)
sung by the kids
Music by Joe Raposo
Lyrics by Jim Henson
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ...
10! 10! 10! 10!
Let's sing a song of 10!
How many is ten?
(An Asian girl sitting on the grass)
Girl: Ten toes!
Kids voice-over: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
(A professor wearing a gown with a picture of 10 triangles behind him)
Professor: Ten triangles!
Kids voice-over: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
(A black man holding a bowling ball about to hit the pins)
Man: Ten pins!
Kids voice-over: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
(A boy holding some bells)
Boy: Ten bells.
Kids voice-over: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
(A black boy with some wind-up toys)
Boy: Ten wind-up toys.
Kids voice-over: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Baker: Ten ... chocolate ... flavored ... cakes!
(Falls down the stairs and drops the ten flavored chocolate cakes)
Kids voice-over: And that's the song of 10!
Transcribed by CookieCountDawn
possibly first released as "Number 5" on the album
The Sesame Street Book & Record - Original Cast (1970)
Columbia (Out of print)
and/or as "The Number Five" on the album
Letters ... And Numbers, Too (1974)
Children's Television Workshop
The number 5 version definitely available on the 3-CD Box Set
Songs From The Street: 35 Years Of Music
The number 10 version available on the DVD
Elmo's World - The Street We Live On (2003)
also available on Video
Number 2 and number 3 versions available on the 3-DVD Set
Sesame Street - Old School, Vol. 1 (1969-1974) (2006)