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In 1991, Debbie Levitt filed d/b/a papers to start using As Was as a company name. From where did that name come? It was part of the punchline from a cartoon Debbie remembered seeing on "The Electric Company" (though some have argued incorrectly that it was on Sesame Street) when she was two years old. She thought it was the wittiest thing she had ever heard (at the time), and it stuck with her. Here is the transcript of that cartoon, and someone was nice enough to load it to YouTube.



A shady-sounding guy and another guy are standing next to an old, beat-up car that has a large AS IS sign on it.

Buyer: How much for the car?

Car Salesman: Fifty bucks.

Buyer: Will you fix the fenders, lights, and stuff?

Car Salesman: See that sign over there? It says AS IS. That means you take it EXACTLY the way you see it there right now, AS IS. Fifty bucks, and it's yours. AS IS.

Buyer: Hmmm. Five dollars.

Car Salesman: Thirty.

Buyer: Ten.

Car Salesman: Sold!

The car promptly falls to a million pieces with the AS IS sign still on the car.

Buyer (very whiny): I want it AS WAS!

The sign on the car changes to "as was."