Phyllis Diller wore this red and blue sequined dress with feathered cuffs on Circus of the Stars Goes to Disneyland in 1994. During Circus of the Stars Goes to Disneyland Phyllis Diller performed with several large pigs, directing them to do tricks and accompanying them in a verse of “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.”
Airing between 1977 and 1994, Circus of the Stars was an annual CBS television special that showcased celebrities performing circus acts. Phyllis Diller appeared on 3 episodes of the program—in 1983, 1985, and 1994. NMAH also has the costume she wore for Circus of the Stars in 1983 (Catalog Number 2003.0289.06).
This headband was worn by Phyllis Diller on Circus of the Stars in 1983. The complete costume consists of a hot pink dress with lime green polka dots, lime green bloomers, a hot pink headband, a handbag with a metal insert designed to hold fish, and two pairs of pantyhose. Diller also wore a lime green clown wig with the costume. During the 8th Circus of the Stars Phyllis Diller performed at Sea World with Clyde the seal and a 3,000 pound walrus named Schmedley.
Airing between 1977 and 1994, Circus of the Stars was an annual CBS television special that showcased celebrities performing circus acts. Phyllis Diller appeared on 3 episodes of the program—in 1983, 1985, and 1994. NMAH also has the costume she wore for Circus of the Stars Goes to Disneyland in 1994 (Catalog Number 2003.0289.07).
The most-watched news program in American history, 60 Minutes (CBS, 1968- ) revolutionized television journalism with its pioneering newsmagazine format. As conceived by producer Don Hewitt, the show includes a mix of breaking news, investigative reports, interviews, and commentary. The famous opening logo, a ticking stopwatch, also marks time between segments. This watch was used on the program until the late 1990s, when it was replaced by a computer graphic.
This Rowlf puppet is one of the earliest made to perform this Muppet character, a genial, cool, and musically gifted dog. Rowlf became the first nationally-known Muppet star when he joined Jimmy Dean as a wisecracking sidekick on the popular country singer's comedy and variety show, The Jimmy Dean Show, from 1963-1966. Since then, Rowlf has been a featured member of the cast of The Muppet Show, Muppet movies, and other Muppet productions.
Rowlf was first designed by Jim Henson and built by Don Sahlin for Purina Dog Chow commercials in the early 1960s. Rowlf was also used as a 'spokesdog' in films made for IBM in the 1960s. Henson made a meeting film discussing the IBM Model D called "Rowlf 100% Club - IBM Confidential" in 1967.
This Rowlf is a live-hand puppet made of brown synthetic fur with a black plastic nose. In a live-hand puppet like Rowlf 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 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.
These bloomers were worn by Phyllis Diller on Circus of the Stars in 1983. The complete costume consists of a hot pink dress with lime green polka dots, lime green bloomers, a hot pink headband, a handbag with a metal insert designed to hold fish, and two pairs of pantyhose. Diller also wore a lime green clown wig with the costume. During the 8th Circus of the Stars Phyllis Diller performed at Sea World with Clyde the seal and a 3,000 pound walrus named Schmedley.
Airing between 1977 and 1994, Circus of the Stars was an annual CBS television special that showcased celebrities performing circus acts. Phyllis Diller appeared on 3 episodes of the program—in 1983, 1985, and 1994. NMAH also has the costume she wore for Circus of the Stars Goes to Disneyland in 1994 (Catalog Number 2003.0289.07).
This dress was worn by Phyllis Diller on Circus of the Stars in 1983. The complete costume consists of a hot pink dress with lime green polka dots, lime green bloomers, a hot pink headband, a handbag with a metal insert designed to hold fish, and two pairs of pantyhose. Diller also wore a lime green clown wig with the costume. During the 8th Circus of the Stars Phyllis Diller performed at Sea World with Clyde the seal and a 3,000 pound walrus named Schmedley.
Airing between 1977 and 1994, Circus of the Stars was an annual CBS television special that showcased celebrities performing circus acts. Phyllis Diller appeared on 3 episodes of the program—in 1983, 1985, and 1994. NMAH also has the costume she wore for Circus of the Stars Goes to Disneyland in 1994 (Catalog Number 2003.0289.07).
Elsie the Cow marionette is hand carved from wood and operates using a 6-piece wooden airplane control and a separate one-piece bar control with 13 strings. Her cow head with the distinctive horns is on a swivel neck and her jaw is moveable. She is wearing a refined blue suit, white gloves, high heels and a black net hat. She was used to promote Borden products. From the late 1930s to the 1950's puppets became popular for use in advertising.
Elsie is one of large group of advertising puppets used by Elizabeth and Frank D. Haines, a husband and wife team of puppeteers. They operated a puppet troupe in and around Philadelphia, and performed on television and in window displays to subsidize their business. While they were not fond of using their puppets for advertisements, Elsie the cow is just one of their puppets used to promote a popular brand of milk products--Borden.
This original Grover hand-rod puppet was built in 1967 as one of several monsters used by Jim Henson and other performers on television variety shows and was first seen in his current design on a 1970 Christmas Eve episode of The Ed Sullivan Show. This darker, green-furred puppet appeared throughout the first season of Sesame Street as a generic monster and was named Grover by the end of the season. The character of Grover was rebuilt for season 2 and was then covered in his now signature bright blue fur. This puppet was later used as Grover’s mother in a skit about Grover having trouble sleeping because he is afraid of the dark, though in later appearances Grover’s mother has bright blue fur similar to Grover.
The character of Grover is a loveable, furry, and thoughtful monster who has many different roles and professions. He loves to help people but is sometimes frustrated by miscommunication, worries, and clumsiness. Grover has a unique voice and manner of speaking, generally avoiding contractions. Grover was originally performed by Frank Oz and is currently performed by Eric Jacobson. Grover is a hand-rod puppet which means that the performer’s dominant hand goes into the puppet’s head and operates the mouth and sometimes other facial features. The less dominant hand controls the arm rods, which are thin rods connected to the puppet’s hands.
Hat worn by Larry Hagman in the role of J.R. Ewing on the television series Dallas, which aired on CBS from 1978-1991. The light brown felt cowboy hat has a feather hatband and leather band inside.
One of the longest running hour-long television dramas in American history, Dallas revolved around the lives of the often feuding Ewing family and their oil company in Texas. The show originally focused on the wedding of Bobby Ewing and Pamela Barnes, but later centered on the greedy and corrupt oil tycoon, J.R. Ewing. The third season's cliffhanger finale left the entire nation wondering who shot J.R., and when the fourth season premiered, it became one of the highest viewed television episodes in history thanks to the millions of people who tuned in to find out the answer to that question.
Cookie Monster is a live-hand puppet originally performed by Frank Oz and currently performed by David Rudman. In a live-hand puppet, like Cookie Monster, 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. Cookie Monster is one of the main characters on Sesame Street. He is covered in blue fur with large googly eyes. He constantly eats anything and everything, but cookies are his favorite.
In a 2005 episode of Sesame Street, Hoots the Owl sings Cookie Monster a song about healthy eating, teaching him that “A Cookie is a Sometime Food,” part of a Sesame Workshop educational program launched in response to the obesity epidemic. Though Cookie Monster didn’t stop eating cookies, the episode generated controversy and conversation, with some commentators bemoaning that “woke” Sesame Street producers were robbing the series of its innocent joy.
Cookie Monster evolved from a monster created by Jim Henson for a General Foods Canada commercial in 1966. This character advertised the snack foods Wheels, Crowns, and Flutes along with two other monsters and was known as the Wheel Stealer. The Wheel Stealer continued to evolve as he appeared in an IBM commercial and on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1967. He eventually made his way to Sesame Street after losing his teeth. Once there, he gained his love of cookies and the name Cookie Monster by the second season.
This puppet is the original Cookie Monster puppet created in 1969 for Sesame Street. He is able to feed himself because his hands are simply gloves for the performer’s hands, and he has a hole in his mouth that runs down the performer’s sleeve. The cookies that are eaten by Cookie Monster are rice crackers that are made to look like cookies because the oils from actual cookies would damage the puppet.
Chiton-style tunic worn by Leonard Nimoy as Spock in the Star Trek episode “Plato’s Stepchildren”. Green synthetic knit fabric with metallic accents woven throughout. Border of blue green and gold metallic ribbon along sides and top. Fastens at tops of shoulders with metallic cord loops and decorative balls, two on each shoulder. Slightly gathered at waist.
Leonard Nimoy portrayed the character Spock, a part human, part Vulcan being, in the original Star Trek series starting in 1966. He served on the USS Enterprise under Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner). This tunic was worn by Nimoy as Spock in episode 10 of season 3, titled “Plato’s Children.” In this episode, Captain Kirk shares a kiss with Lieutenant Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), resulting in American television’s first scripted interracial kiss. The scene aired at a time when racial tensions were high in the United States, generating media attention and controversy just one year after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Loving v. Virginia struck down state laws against interracial marriage. At the time, Gallup polls showed that fewer than 20 percent of Americans approved of such relationships, and television network censors had long enforced an unwritten ban on interracial relationships, fearing backlash from affiliate stations and sponsors. However, according to Nichols, public response to the scene was overwhelmingly positive. Of the episode, Nichols said, “We received one of the largest batches of fan mail ever, all of it very positive, with many addressed to me from girls wondering how it felt to kiss Captain Kirk, and many to him from guys wondering the same thing about me. However, almost no one found the kiss offensive," except for one white Southerner who wrote the producers "I am totally opposed to the mixing of the races. However, any time a red-blooded American boy like Captain Kirk gets a beautiful dame in his arms that looks like Uhura, he ain't gonna fight it."
As Uhura, Nichols was the first African-American woman to have a continuing co-starring role on television. Nichols recalled meeting Martin Luther King, Jr., a fan of the series, who told her “You have opened a door that must not be allowed to close…you changed the face of television forever…For the first time, the world sees us as we should be seen, as equals, as intelligent people.” The magazine Ebony featured Nichols on its January 1967 cover and described Uhura as “the first Negro astronaut, a triumph of modern-day TV over modern-day NASA” and indeed, Nichols was later hired by NASA to assist with minority recruitment for the astronaut program.
Star Trek has had an immense influence on American popular culture and history. Beyond amassing a large and dedicated fanbase as an influential space-age adventure series, the show engaged with contemporary issues and politics. Its representation of a racially inclusive and diverse future was a provocative and progressive statement amidst the Civil Rights Movement.
