Ernie dusts the shelf (Lost 1969 Sesame Street Ernie and Bert sketch)

Ernie Dusts the Shelf is a sketch that originally aired during Sesame Street episode 0094, during the first season, on March 19, 1970.

It's Ernie's turn to dust the shelf, but he is putting it off, trying to remember something important he has to do first. Bert thinks Ernie is just stalling to get out of doing chores, and eventually insists that Ernie start dusting. He does, and toys fall from the shelf and onto Bert's head. That prompts Ernie to remember what he had to do before dusting the shelf--take the toys off of it first. Written by Daniel Wilcox.

The audio for the skit was released on two Sesame Street albums, Ernie's Hits and At Home with Ernie and Bert. A story adaption based on the skit is included in The Sesame Street Storybook from 1971. The actual 1969 video footage of the skit remains stored in Sesame Workshop's archives and has not been made available to the public ever since. The clip only aired in two episodes of the first season, #94 and #116, and has since been pulled from rotation and also not aired in any foreign co-productions, possibly due to parents finding the toys falling on and bonking Bert on the head inappropriate for their children.