Popular Entertainment

This Museum's popular entertainment collections hold some of the Smithsonian's most beloved artifacts. The ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz reside here, along with the Muppet character Kermit the Frog, and props from popular television series such as M*A*S*H and All in the Family. But as in many of the Museum's collections, the best-known objects are a small part of the story.

The collection also encompasses many other artifacts of 19th- and 20th-century commercial theater, film, radio, and TV—some 50,000 sound recordings dating back to 1903; posters, publicity stills, and programs from films and performances; puppets; numerous items from World's Fairs from 1851 to 1992; and audiovisual materials on Groucho Marx, to name only a few.

Oscar the Grouch puppet made by Muppets, Inc. for the Children's Television Workshop for use in the production of the television series Sesame Street, ca. 1970-1980.
Description (Brief)
Oscar the Grouch puppet made by Muppets, Inc. for the Children's Television Workshop for use in the production of the television series Sesame Street, ca. 1970-1980. Oscar is a green furry monster who lives in a trash can on Sesame Street and frequently argues with the other Muppet and human characters. Despite his grouchiness, Oscar is a valued friend to the other characters on Sesame Street, demonstrating the importance of understanding, tolerance, and diversity.
Oscar the Grouch was originally performed by Caroll Spinney, who said that he based the character's voice on a cranky New York taxi driver. Jim Henson’s inspiration for the character was a rude waiter at a restaurant named Oscar's Salt of the Sea. In his original concept drawings for Oscar the Grouch, Henson imagined a spiky, grumpy-looking magenta monster. Due to the limitations of early color television, however, Oscar was redesigned with orange fur for his premiere on the first season of Sesame Street in 1969, and only changed to green for the second season. Oscar explained that this change was due to his vacation at Swamp Mushy Muddy where it was so damp that he became covered in slime and mold.

Oscar the Grouch is a live-hand puppet, which means that one of the performer’s hands is in the puppet’s head while the other is in one of the puppet’s arms, which has gloves for hands. Another puppeteer is usually needed to operate the other arm, which is known as right-handing. This particular Oscar the Grouch puppet was built in the 1970s. It was also used to perform the character Grandpa Grouch at some point in the show's run.

Location
Currently not on view
date made
1970s
user
Children's Television Workshop
designer
Henson, Jim
performer
Jacobson, Eric
maker
Muppets, Inc.
Henson, Jim
Sahlin, Don
ID Number
1989.0540.01
accession number
1989.0540
catalog number
1989.0540.01
This colorful painted wood puppet Koschei the Deathless, is one of a group of three marionettes based on a Russian folktale created by Basil Milovsoroff.
Description (Brief)
This colorful painted wood puppet Koschei the Deathless, is one of a group of three marionettes based on a Russian folktale created by Basil Milovsoroff. Koschei is mythical figure from Russian folk tales, and is usually portrayed as a thin, bony man who is rich and wicked and possesses an egg which holds the secret of eternal life. Koschei is accompanied by Leyshi the magical villain and jokester, and Baba Yaga the Wicked Witch, along with a background panel called "The Hut on Chicken Legs". The puppets could be operated with either strings or a rod.
Milovsoroff was known for his strange but whimsical puppets which were based on characters from Russian folklore and fairy tales. Milovsoroff called these puppets "folklorettes" otherwise known as sprites, elves, goblins, or fairies who lived in an imaginary, forest-like kingdom.
Born in Siberia, Basil Milovsoroff (1906–1992) emigrated to the United States in 1927 and went on to receive a bachelors degree from Oberlin College in 1932, and completed his masters in 1934. From 1934-1957 he toured the United States producing puppet shows in museums and children's theaters featuring Russian folk tales.
Milovsoroff was a member of The Federal Theatre Project, which was one of many programs created by President Roosevelt for the New Deal in 1935. The project was developed during the Great Depression to employ jobless theater professionals and make the performing arts available to the vast number of citizens who had little money for entertainment. Puppets were an integral part of this project and marionette units presented an average of 1200 shows a week in 22 states. Between 1934-1937, the Federal Theater Project units produced over 2700 plays seen by about 30 million people, most of whom had ever seen a play.
In 1954 Milovsoroff taught Russian at Cornell University and was named the Chairman of the National Festival of the Puppeteers of America.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1939
maker
Milovsoroff, Basil
ID Number
1985.0398.02
accession number
1985.0398
catalog number
1985.0398.02
Rosita puppet used in the production of the children's television series Sesame Street. Rosita, la Monstrua de las Cuevas is a Mexican-American Muppet character introduced to the show in 1991, performed by Carmen Osbahr.
Description (Brief)
Rosita puppet used in the production of the children's television series Sesame Street. Rosita, la Monstrua de las Cuevas is a Mexican-American Muppet character introduced to the show in 1991, performed by Carmen Osbahr. Sesame Street (airing 1969-present) is the longest-running children’s television series in American history and has earned acclaim for its blend of education and entertainment as well as its intentionally inclusive, multicultural cast and setting. However, activists have called for greater Latino representation on the show since its premiere; Rosita was the first bilingual (Spanish-speaking) and first Latina Muppet character introduced as a regular member of the cast.
Osbahr, who originally worked as a puppet performer on Mexico's Plaza Sésamo, portrays Rosita as a five-year old girl who enjoys history and geography as well as playing the guitar. She frequently introduces a Spanish word of the day on the program and teaches viewers about her Mexican heritage. Introduced at a time when Latino/a characters were almost nonexistent in mainstream American children’s television, Rosita has proven to be one of the most popular Muppet characters on Sesame Street today.
Jim Henson Company puppet builder Ed Christie designed Rosita with wings in reference to Mexican fruit bats, although a different puppet without the wings was used in the show's production from season 35 (2004) through season 52 (2021). The live-hand style puppet is made with shaggy turquoise puppet fur with a round orange fleece nose, tan eyebrows over closely set white eyes with black pupils, and wispy, feather-like yellow and turquoise hair strands atop its head. Obsahr operated this puppet with her arms through one of the arm sleeves and the character's head, with another puppeteer operating the other arm. This puppet was used in production of Sesame Street beginning in the late 1990s.
date made
ca 1995 - 1999
performer
Osbahr, Carmen
user
Sesame Workshop
maker
Christie, Ed
Jim Henson Company
ID Number
2021.0140.01
catalog number
2021.0140.01
accession number
2021.0140
The ventriloquist figure known as “Bob Campbell” was created by puppeteer Jay Johnson for the TV comedy series, Soap. The character of Bob was used often as an uninhibited alter ego for Chuck, spouting outrageous observations about various situations and characters.
Description (Brief)
The ventriloquist figure known as “Bob Campbell” was created by puppeteer Jay Johnson for the TV comedy series, Soap. The character of Bob was used often as an uninhibited alter ego for Chuck, spouting outrageous observations about various situations and characters. The series, which aired on the ABC network from 1977 to 1981, was a prime-time weekly, half-hour satire of daytime television soap operas. As devised by writer-producer, Susan Harris, the show was highly controversial for its time, dealing openly with such topics as race, religion, sexuality and organized crime.
Jay Johnson (born 1949) best known for his roles on the television show Soap and the Broadway show, Jay Johnson: the Two and Only!, is a writer, comedian, ventriloquist, cartoonist, magician, and puppeteer. The character of Bob is the most recognized of his many ventriloquist figures. Dressed in a vivid “mod” orange T-shirt and jeans, Bob appears to be the quintessence of the 1970s, the decade of his birth. A wooden control, accessed through an opening in the back, which triggers the movement of the head, eyes, and mouth.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1977
ID Number
2007.0079.01
accession number
2007.0079
catalog number
2007.0079.01
Kermit is a bright green frog who was the star and host of The Muppet Show and appears on Sesame Street. The character of Kermit is one of Jim Henson’s earliest creations, dating back to 1955 with his appearances on Sam and Friends on the Washington, D.C., NBC affiliate station.
Description (Brief)
Kermit is a bright green frog who was the star and host of The Muppet Show and appears on Sesame Street. The character of Kermit is one of Jim Henson’s earliest creations, dating back to 1955 with his appearances on Sam and Friends on the Washington, D.C., NBC affiliate station. He was previously performed by Jim Henson and Steve Whitmire and is currently performed by Matt Vogel. Kermit is a calm, level-headed character who is constantly trying to keep everything together as he is surrounded by craziness. Kermit is known for singing “Bein’ Green” (also known as “It’s Not Easy Bein’ Green”) which talks about the difficulties he has had because of his color but ends with him accepting and embracing his greenness.
Date made
late 1970s
Associated Name
National Museum of American History. Division of Cultural History
user
Jim Henson Productions
Children's Television Workshop
Henson, Jim
maker
Henson, Jim
Jim Henson Productions
ID Number
1994.0037.01
accession number
1994.0037
catalog number
1994.0037.01
Arba the eagle is a large rod and hand puppet made by the Patchwork Puppet Productions, an Emmy award winning company, in 1975. The eagle is made of wool felt, with red, blue, and gray feathers with a white head and a yellow beak and claws.
Description (Brief)
Arba the eagle is a large rod and hand puppet made by the Patchwork Puppet Productions, an Emmy award winning company, in 1975. The eagle is made of wool felt, with red, blue, and gray feathers with a white head and a yellow beak and claws. His basic form is made of foam, wire and cardboard. The head, his mouth, and one wing are manipulated by one hand and arm, while the other wing is manipulated with an attached rod.
Arba was commissioned by the U.S. Bicentennial Commission to perform public television announcements celebrating the Bicentennial on July 4, 1976. He also appeared in a series of public service announcements in the mid 1970s.
After four years at the puppet theater at the Smithsonian Institution, puppeteers Ingrid Crepeau, Sarah Toth Yochum, and Julian Lochum formed their own company in 1974 and created the Washington D.C. Patchwork Puppet Productions Inc. Their life size puppets were a vital part of the highly acclaimed television series "Sneakers". They also performed musical shows, political satire, and educational films.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1975
user
Patchwork Puppet Productions
U.S. Bicentennial Administration
maker
Patchwork Puppet Productions
ID Number
1979.0124.01
accession number
1979.0124
catalog number
1979.0124.01
This is one of the three original Howdy Doody marionettes used in production of Howdy Doody, one of the most popular and influential children’s television series in American history.
Description
This is one of the three original Howdy Doody marionettes used in production of Howdy Doody, one of the most popular and influential children’s television series in American history. In its original run from 1947 to 1960, each episode opened with the voiceover question "Say, kids, what time is it?" Resounding from the peanut gallery—and from millions of television-watching kids around the country—came the reply, "It's Howdy Doody time!"
The creator of Howdy Doody, “Buffalo” Bob Smith, first performed the character on his WNBC radio show. When the show transitioned to TV, puppet builder Frank Paris created a marionette to match the voice. In 1948, a dispute over merchandising rights led Frank Paris to leave the show and take the original puppet with him. Velma Dawson created this new style of Howdy Doody puppet that debuted on June 8, 1948 after a break for “plastic surgery.” Throughout the series run on NBC, Bob Smith voiced the puppet, usually through recordings made before the show, while Margo and Rufus Rose were primarily responsible for building, maintaining, and performing the marionettes.
This particular Howdy Doody was known as "Double Doody" - being the second of this type made for the production. This marionette was most often used as a stand-in for the main marionette when needed, and in long shots. The marionette's body is made of pine and the head is made of plastic wood. Howdy's face is painted with 48 freckles - one for each state in the union at the time of his creation.
date made
1949
user
Rose, Rufus
NBC
Smith, Bob
designer
Neil, Milt
user
Rufus Rose Marionettes
maker
Rose, Rufus
Rose, Margo
Dawson, Velma
Rufus Rose Marionettes
ID Number
1980.0123.01
accession number
1980.0123
catalog number
1980.0123.01
This puppet, a 28-inch marionette in the image of an exotic South American beauty, was designed and built by Hazelle Hedges Rollins in 1935. She created it under the tutelage of the renowned Tony Sarg, a major figure in twentieth-century puppetry.
Description (Brief)
This puppet, a 28-inch marionette in the image of an exotic South American beauty, was designed and built by Hazelle Hedges Rollins in 1935. She created it under the tutelage of the renowned Tony Sarg, a major figure in twentieth-century puppetry. The puppet’s name, The Latin From Manhattan, was inspired by the title of the song, “She’s a Latin From Manhattan” by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Al Dubin, which was introduced by Al Jolson in the 1935 Warner Bros. film, Go Into Your Dance. This eighteen-string marionette is barefoot, has brown wavy hair, and wears a black and gold dress with brocade and sequins along the neck, hips, legs, and ankles. A fringe of gold and black bugle beads surrounds the hips.
Hazelle Hedges Rollins (1910-1984), a native of Kansas City, Missouri, parlayed her skills at puppetry into a successful business. With her husband, J. Woodson Rollins, she created Hazelle, Inc., the world’s largest exclusive puppet manufacturing company.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1935
user
Rollins, Hazelle H.
maker
Rollins, Hazelle H.
ID Number
1981.1085.10
accession number
1981.1085
catalog number
1981.1085.10
This Charlie McCarthy ventriloquist figure, or dummy, is the original, the first created and used by entertainer Edgar Bergen in his popular act.
Description (Brief)
This Charlie McCarthy ventriloquist figure, or dummy, is the original, the first created and used by entertainer Edgar Bergen in his popular act. The dummy is made of wood and plastic, with human hair and glass eyes, and wears synthetic fabric and cotton clothing, a cardboard and fur top hat, glass monocle, and leather shoes.
In a career that spanned five decades, Bergen became one of the most popular entertainers in the United States, performing with McCarthy on the vaudeville stage and in radio, film, and television appearances. Bergen’s ventriloquist act seems a strange match for the purely aural medium of radio, but it was a remarkable success; he and Charlie starred in a series of top-rated radio programs from 1937 – 1956. Bergen acted as the straight man alongside McCarthy’s precocious and transgressive humorous banter. Despite being portrayed as a child, McCarthy was known for roasting celebrity guests (comedian W. C. Fields a particular target and returner of insults) and pursuing women, frequently flirting in provocative double entendre and innuendo that would have faced censorship if spoken by a human character.
Edgar Berggren (he later changed his name for the stage) was the son of Swedish immigrants who taught himself ventriloquism while working odd jobs to support his family following his father’s death. In 1922, Bergen asked Chicago-area woodcarver Theodore Mack to make a dummy based on a sketch of an Irish newspaper boy and named him Charlie McCarthy. Bergen first dressed McCarthy in his signature tuxedo, monocle and top hat for a performance at the Rainbow Room of the Hotel Waldorf Astoria in New York City. In 1936, the duo made their radio debut as guest stars on the Rudy Vallee Radio Show and the following year began starring in their own radio show, The Chase and Sanborn Hour, on the NBC network. Bergen was a popular film star as well, making 14 motion pictures with Charlie and receiving a special Academy Award in 1938. During World War II, they toured military hospitals in the United States and made numerous appearances overseas, touring with the USO and broadcasting from Army, Navy and Marine bases during and after the war. With the declining popularity of radio, they made the transition to television with an NBC show, Do You Trust Your Wife? (NBC, 1958-1959) and continued to perform in nightclub and television appearances.
Bergen was known for his showmanship, exceptional humor, and a daring irreverence. Bergen and McCarthy had a far-reaching influence on ventriloquism and other forms of entertainment, using novel and diverse forms of electronic media to help create a national cultural vernacular.
Location
Currently not on view (cover, padded)
Date made
1922
maker
Mack, Theodore
user
Bergen, Edgar
NBC
CBS
maker
Mack, Theodore
ID Number
1980.0273.01
accession number
1980.0273
catalog number
1980.0273.01
Made by Bil Baird of wood and plastic, Slugger Ryan is a rod puppet with external wooden sticks or wire rods attached, allowing the puppeteer to manipulate his movements.The puppet is smoking a cigarette and is seated at a rust-colored wooden piano with a fabric keyboard.
Description (Brief)
Made by Bil Baird of wood and plastic, Slugger Ryan is a rod puppet with external wooden sticks or wire rods attached, allowing the puppeteer to manipulate his movements.The puppet is smoking a cigarette and is seated at a rust-colored wooden piano with a fabric keyboard. His bench is perched on a blue and black checked floor, surrounded by a low curtain held up with brass rings. He is dressed in gray wool pants, pink cotton shirt, a tan vest, and wears a Wendell Wilkie button.
Baird created the original Slugger Ryan in the mid-1930s, for shows at New York City's Radio City Music Hall. Modeled on the legacy of a honky-tonk piano player, this puppet bears a passing resemblance to Hoagy Carmichael; the composer of such song hits as “Stardust” and “Georgia on My Mind.” The puppet captures Baird’s hallmarks of caricature and satire. Baird made the Smithsonian’s version of Slugger Ryan in the 1970s.
Bil Baird (1904-1987) was born in Nebraska, and by the age of 14, was making his own puppets, creating stage sets, and performing his own plays. He attended Iowa State University and in 1926 entered the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts to study stage design. After traveling in France for over a year, Baird returned to the U.S. and went to New Yori to work for Tony Sarg, a highly respected and talented puppeteer.
In 1934 Baird created his own company, referring to his marionettes as "his little wooden friends." In 1936 Orson Welles commissioned Baird to make the puppets for his Federal Theater Project production of "Dr. Faustus." While working on this project, Baird met Cora Burlar, a dancer with the Martha Graham company, and they were married in 1937. The two were life-long partners in marriage and work. They set up a studio in New York where they created, carved, painted, and dressed thousands of puppets, as well as making the props, stage sets and scenery for all their produections.
The Baird marionettes performed at the 1939 Chicago World's Fair and went to to become international stars, appearing in many varied venues. They performed on Broadway with the Ziegfield Follies, at Radio CIty Music Hall, the late show with Jack Parr, television specials that included Art Carney in "Peter and the Wolf," the "Sorcerer's Guide," and AT&T commercials. Their marionettes are probably best known for the puppet show that appeared in the featue film, The Sound of Music. He created the puppets, wrote, produced and performed the "Loney Goat Herd" put on by Maria (Julie Andrews) and the Von Trapp family children.
Baird enjoyed one of the most prolific and varied careers in the history of puppetry. His career spanned almost 60 years and Baird was a mentor to many up and coming puppeteers, including Jim Henson, who credited his success to the teachings of Bill Baird.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1930-1939
date made
1970s
user
Baird, Bil
referenced
Willkie, Wendell L.
maker
Baird, Bil
ID Number
1980.0315.01
accession number
1980.0315
catalog number
1980.0315.01
Princess Dancing Bear was created by puppeteer Frank Paris, who performed with the marionette in shows for adult audiences that were staged in American theaters and nightclubs during the 1930s through the 1950s.
Description (Brief)
Princess Dancing Bear was created by puppeteer Frank Paris, who performed with the marionette in shows for adult audiences that were staged in American theaters and nightclubs during the 1930s through the 1950s. The marionette, which stands nearly three feet tall, has the statuesque torso of a chorus girl or an exotic dancer, and is costumed in an abbreviated costume of halter and panties decorated with white feathers and silver sequins. Its face is equipped with high, sloping cheekbones and a smoldering, sloe-eyed stare worthy of a Marlene Dietrich. Two long black braids, made of strands of fringe, are crowned with a detachable, top-to-toe headdress of white feathers, silver sequins, and glass beads. Its long legs are joined to feet which sport white and silver slippers. The puppet has a beaded headband inscribed with Paris’s name. The overall effect of the marionette evokes a visual impression that combines ethnic stereotype and exotic sensuality and is the embodiment of the puppeteer’s characteristically sophisticated style, which one critic has deemed “the Paris Label.”
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1935 - 1955
maker
Paris, Frank
ID Number
1980.0352.01
accession number
1980.0352
catalog number
1980.0352.01
Mr. Tambo, named after his musical instrument, starred in an unusual marionette minstrel show said to have been staged on a showboat plying the Mississippi River from New Orleans to St. Louis between 1850 and 1875.
Description (Brief)
Mr. Tambo, named after his musical instrument, starred in an unusual marionette minstrel show said to have been staged on a showboat plying the Mississippi River from New Orleans to St. Louis between 1850 and 1875. The minstrel show, considered to be the first uniquely American form of entertainment, featured whites parodying blacks. It was often the fare of showboats bringing comedy and musical entertainment, as well as negative racial stereotypes, to working class Americans in urban and rural areas. It was rare, however, that this popular amusement was involved with puppetry.
Mr. Tambo was a traditional minstrel character who appeared with Mr. Bones and the MC. The rest of the show consisted of dynamic songs, dances and other variety acts, and ended with a short skit. There are at least nine surviving marionettes from this unique show, four of which are in the National Museum of American History Collection. Besides Mr. Tambo, we have a disassembling skeleton, a horse skeleton and a policeman. They are beautifully hand-crafted from wood, leather and cloth. All four were gifts of Hazel and J.Woodson Rollins.
Date made
1850
ID Number
1979.0974.01
accession number
1979.0974
catalog number
1979.0974.01
Dean Martin hand puppet, part of a set representing the comic duo of Martin and Lewis. The puppet has a plastic head molded to resemble Martin with a red and navy blue striped fabric body.
Description (Brief)
Dean Martin hand puppet, part of a set representing the comic duo of Martin and Lewis. The puppet has a plastic head molded to resemble Martin with a red and navy blue striped fabric body. The puppets were sold as part of a "TV Puppet Show" set with a "vinylite" banner curtain stage, two-minute sound recording of a Martin & Lewis television performance, autographed photograph of Martin & Lewis, and set of tickets for admission to a puppet performance.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1952
depicted (sitter)
Martin, Dean
ID Number
2005.0277.01
accession number
2005.0277
catalog number
2005.0277.01
Jerry Lewis hand puppet, part of a set representing the comic duo of Martin and Lewis. The puppet has a plastic head molded to resemble Lewis with a peach and blue-colored fabric body.
Description (Brief)
Jerry Lewis hand puppet, part of a set representing the comic duo of Martin and Lewis. The puppet has a plastic head molded to resemble Lewis with a peach and blue-colored fabric body. The puppets were sold as part of a "TV Puppet Show" set with a "vinylite" banner curtain stage, two-minute sound recording of a Martin & Lewis television performance, autographed photograph of Martin & Lewis, and set of tickets for admission to a puppet performance.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1952
depicted (sitter)
Lewis, Jerry
ID Number
2005.0277.02
accession number
2005.0277
catalog number
2005.0277.02

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