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Sam Puppet from Sam and Friends

National Museum of American History
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Object Details

performer
Henson, Jim
Henson, Jim
Description (Brief)
Sam is a hand puppet and the title character of Sam and Friends. This is the original Sam puppet that was created by Jim Henson in October 1954. Sam has a papier-mâché head which makes him more rigid than most of the other puppets created by Jim Henson. He never spoke, but he would lip-sync to popular music and comedy records from the time. Sam and Friends was a five-minute show that aired on the local NBC affiliate station in Washington, D.C., WRC-TV. It featured a cast of hand puppets created by Jim Henson and his eventual wife Jane Nebel that often lip-synched to popular songs or comedy records. It aired from 1955 to 1961.
Credit Line
Gift from the Family of Jim Henson
1954-10
ID Number
2010.0144.01
accession number
2010.0144
catalog number
2010.0144.01
Object Name
puppet
Physical Description
fabric (overall material)
paint (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 21 in x 14 in x 11 in; 53.34 cm x 35.56 cm x 27.94 cm
See more items in
Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
Jim Henson
Exhibition
Entertainment Nation
Exhibition Location
National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History
subject
Puppetry
Television broadcasts
Television
Record ID
nmah_1396954
Metadata Usage (text)
CC0
GUID (Link to Original Record)
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ab-aa34-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Related Content

  • The Puppets and Muppets of Jim Henson

Puppets from television show 'Sam and Friends'
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
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