There were mice running on aerial tramways made of Slinkys. The mice would venture from their aquariums to dash along the coils and onto the desks of creatives working inside The Jim Henson Company workshop in New York City in the 1970s. This is one detail Bonnie Erickson remembers about her zany office.
Erickson was a puppet builder inside the original Henson workshop; she designed Miss Piggy, with her red lips, rosy cheeks and doe eyes. The grumpy old hecklers, Statler and Waldorf, were also her creation. Erickson’s husband had rescued the mice from a hospital where he worked and relocated them to the Henson workshop. When the mice wouldn’t race on the Slinkys, Erickson’s mentor Don Sahlin (master puppet builder) would jokingly spank them on the tush with a Popsicle stick. Erickson laughs whenever she retells the story.
