This red knit cardigan was worn by Fred Rogers, creator and host of the children’s program, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood (PBS, 1968–2001). For more than thirty years, Rogers began each episode by changing into a sweater and tennis shoes and singing, “Won’t you be my neighbor?”

An ordained Presbyterian minister, Rogers dedicated his television career to promoting children’s emotional and moral well-being. His show, with its friendly conversational style and trips to the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, encouraged young viewers to feel loved, respected, and special.

On a memorable episode of Seinfeld (NBC, 1989–98), comedian Jerry Seinfeld unwittingly agreed to wear this frilly pirate shirt during an appearance on the Today show.

The hit series, famously described as a show “about nothing,” reveled in the absurd situations that emerged from the everyday lives of its four main characters: Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer. The “puffy shirt” episode, originally broadcast September 23, 1993, was written by Seinfeld cocreator Larry David.

Manhattan newspaper columnist Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker (second from left), used this laptop to record her observations on modern relationships in the risqué comedy series Sex and the City (HBO, 1998–2004).

Frank, witty, and often outrageous, the Emmy Award–winning cable show won millions of loyal fans with its depiction of four women friends and their romantic urban escapades. It also established cable TV as a competitive producer of original programming. Sex and the City set fashion trends, from Manolo Blahnik shoes to cosmopolitan cocktails, and provoked cultural debates about sex, relationships, and gender roles.