Kermit the Frog Comes Home to Washington

Kermit the Frog Comes Home to Washington

Sam and Friends Characters Donated to the National Museum of American History

WHAT: Iconic characters from Sam and Friends, including the original Kermit the Frog, will be donated to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

WHEN: Wednesday, Aug. 25, 11 a.m.

WHERE: National Museum of American History
14th Street and Constitution Avenue N.W.
Presidential Reception Suite, first floor

WHO: Jane Henson, co-founder of The Muppets and founder and board member, The Jim Henson Legacy

Brent D. Glass, director, National Museum of American History
Dwight Blocker Bowers, curator, National Museum of American History

Willard Scott, The Today Show weatherman, children's television host and character Bozo the Clown on WRC-TV

In a special ceremony, Jane Henson, on behalf of the Henson family, will donate 10 characters from Sam and Friends to the National Museum of American History permanent entertainment collections.

Joining the original Kermit, a lizard-like creature with ping pong ball eyes and made from a green-felt coat discarded by Jim Henson's mother, are Sam and Friends. These characters include Henson's oldest surviving puppet, Pierre the French Rat, which was created in a comic strip that Henson drew for his high school yearbook in 1954; Yorick, the purple skull with the big appetite that was a precursor to hungry monsters like Cookie Monster; Mushmellon, a yellow monster-type creature whose wide face and grouchy eyes bear resemblance to Oscar the Grouch; and Sam, the main character from Sam and Friends who never spoke but would lip-sync to popular music and comedy records of the time.

In 1955, Henson's Sam and Friends debuted on local Washington, D.C., station WRC-TV and thus began what would become the phenomenon known as the Muppets, known and loved by millions of people across the globe.

Media only: Melinda Machado (202) 633-3129
Laura Duff (202) 633-3129

Media website: http://newsdesk.si.edu/

/PRNewswire-USNewswire -- Aug. 23/

Source: Smithsonian's National Museum of American History

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