My warmest thanks to everyone who turned out for last Friday’s Jim Henson: A Creative Life in Six Objects presentation at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. It was a huge hit, and that’s thanks in no small part to all of you for coming out at noon on a weekday to watch Henson Archivist Karen Falk, Smithsonian curator Ryan Lintelman, and me talk about Jim Henson and his creations for 90 minutes.
For those who couldn’t make it, the six objects we discussed were:
- The original Pierre the Rat Muppet that Jim Henson built back in 1954
- A storyboard for a Wilkin & Wontkins commercial for Wilkin’s Coffee
- An early Rowlf the Dog Muppet
- Prairie Dawn
- The animatronic head of Ursu the Master
- Uncle Travelling Matt
As a bonus, Ryan Lintelman brought out a really beautiful Miss Piggy Muppet and a still-full bottle of her Moi Perfum from 1998.
When we started our discussion about this event months ago, we were originally planning to host the event in the Taubman Hall of Music on the museum’s third floor, a nice venue that seats about 160. Tickets quickly sold out–and again, thank you–so we were delighted to relocate it to the Warner Bros. Theater on the main floor, a much larger spot seating about 265. I snapped a photo of the room right before we opened the doors . . .
. . . and after. And as you can see, you kind folks filled that room to capacity.
Karen, Ryan, and I talked for about an hour, then took some really good questions from the audience, including from someone who asked earnestly, “How do you get to Sesame Street?” Afterwards, I chatted with fans, signed a few books, and generally had a fantastic time learning your stories and how you first discovered the Muppets.
It was a fun and memorable afternoon, made all the moreso by the fans who attended it. Thank you all for coming. With luck, maybe we’ll do it again sometime.
