Popular Entertainment - Overview
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.
"Popular Entertainment - Overview" showing 144 items.
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Emergency! Thermos
- Description (Brief)
- This plastic thermos bottle was made by Aladdin in 1973. It has a screw-on red cup lid with handle, but the stopper is missing. The thermos features images from the television series, Emergency!. Emergency! ran from 1972-1978 on NBC, and chronicled the adventures of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1973
- maker
- Aladdin
- ID Number
- 2003.3070.21.02
- nonaccession number
- 2003.3070
- catalog number
- 2003.3070.21.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Wonder Woman Lunch Box
- Description (Brief)
- This vinyl-clad, cardboard-core lunch box was made by Aladdin Industries in 1977. The box has a metal snap for hinged lid and hinged white plastic carrying handle. The lunch box has a light blue background and features an image of Wonder Woman on the lid. Wonder Woman is a DC Comic superhero, originally created in 1941, and the character was propelled into pop-culture fame through the 1975-1979 television series starring Lynda Carter.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1977
- maker
- Aladdin
- ID Number
- 2003.3070.26.01
- nonaccession number
- 2003.3070
- catalog number
- 2003.3070.26.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Wonder Woman Thermos
- Description (Brief)
- This plastic thermos bottle was made by Aladdin Industries in 1977. It has a screw-on blue cup lid with handle and screw-on beige stopper. The bottle is blue-green with action images of Wonder Woman. The bottle is the companion piece to the lunch box object number 2003.3070.26.01.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1977
- maker
- Aladdin
- ID Number
- 2003.3070.26.02
- nonaccession number
- 2003.3070
- catalog number
- 2003.3070.26.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Campbell's Tomato Soup Thermos
- Description (Brief)
- This metal, glass and plastic thermos bottle was made by Aladdin in 1973. It has a screw-on red cup lid and screw-on red stopper. The thermos is a replica of the red and white Campbell's Tomato soup can design. This thermos accompanies Aladdin's pop art bread loaf dome lunch box, object number 2001.3101.16. Andy Warhol’s Campbell Soup Can paintings, created in 1962, had permeated popular culture at this point, and this thermos may be a take on those paintings.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1973
- maker
- Aladdin
- ID Number
- 2003.3070.34
- nonaccession number
- 2003.3070
- catalog number
- 2003.3070.34
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Fat Albert Thermos
- Description (Brief)
- This square plastic thermos bottle was made by Aladdin Industries in 1973. It has a red plastic, screw-on cup lid and a white and red, plastic stopper. The bottle is orange and has a portrait of Fat Albert from the television series Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids on the front of the thermos.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1973
- maker
- King Seeley Thermos
- ID Number
- 2004.3009.03.02
- nonaccession number
- 2004.3009
- catalog number
- 2004.3009.03.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Happy Days Thermos
- Description (Brief)
- This metal and plastic thermos bottle was made by Thermos in 1976. The bottle has a white plastic, screw-on cup lid with handle and a white plastic screw-on, plastic stopper. The bottle is decorated with a neon pink “Happy” and a neon green “Days” over an image of a record. A record playing jukebox featured prominently in Arnold’s Drive-In, one of the two main hangouts of the gang in the television series Happy Days.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1976
- maker
- King Seeley Thermos
- ID Number
- 2004.3009.07.02
- nonaccession number
- 2004.3009
- catalog number
- 2004.3009.07.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
UFO Lunch Box
- Description (Brief)
- This metal lunch box was manufactured by Thermos in 1973. The lunch box has a blue rim and animated scenes of space life and travel on all sides. Due to the success of NASA and the popularity of Star Wars and Star Trek, companies tried to use space images to sell their products. This is an example of Thermos using generic “UFO” images to sell their lunch boxes.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1973
- maker
- King Seeley Thermos
- ID Number
- 2004.3009.11
- nonaccession number
- 2004.3009
- catalog number
- 2004.3009.11
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Kiss Lunch Box
- Description (Brief)
- This metal lunch box was manufactured by Thermos in 1977. This box features images of the band Kiss. Kiss was well known for their flamboyant face paint and costumes, with its members Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss taking on alternate personas. Stanley was the Starchild, Simmons the Demon, Frehley the Spaceman, and Criss the Catman.
- Date made
- 1977
- maker
- King Seeley Thermos
- ID Number
- 2004.3009.12.01
- nonaccession number
- 2004.3009
- catalog number
- 2004.3009.12.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Kiss Thermos
- Description (Brief)
- This plastic thermos bottle was made by Thermos in 1977. It has a yellow screw-on plastic cup with handle and a white screw-on plastic stopper. The thermos is decorated with portraits of the four band members of Kiss, Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss in their trademark face makeup.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1977
- maker
- King Seeley Thermos
- ID Number
- 2004.3009.12.02
- nonaccession number
- 2004.3009
- catalog number
- 2004.3009.12.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
The Brady Bunch Lunch Box
- Description (Brief)
- This metal lunch box was made by Thermos in 1970. The box has a hinged lid with one silver metal snap and a collapsible red, plastic handle. The box features animated scenes of the The Brady Bunch, with the boys and girls each having a side of the box, and an image of their parents marriage with them on either side on the lid. The Brady Bunch ran from 1969-1974 on ABC, but ran in syndication from 1975 onward, becoming ingrained in American pop culture.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1970
- maker
- King Seeley Thermos
- ID Number
- 2004.3009.28
- nonaccession number
- 2004.3009
- catalog number
- 2004.3009.28
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center