Kermit the Frog and Oscar the Grouch are now joined by 21 other puppets from Jim Henson's The Muppet Show, as well as Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock that were donated to the Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.
According to BBC, Miss Piggy, Cookie Monster, Bert, Ernie, Elmo, Grover, Fozzie Bear and other favorite puppets joined the collection Tuesday during a special ceremony to commemorate Henson's 77th birthday.
Henson's daughter Cheryl, who is also president of the Jim Henson Foundation, expressed her excitement at the event, saying she was "so happy to have [her] father's work be part of the cultural heritage of this country.”
CNN reports that the museum's director, John Gray, couldn't be happier about the new exhibits. "No American artist has appealed to and affected as many people in different age groups and cultures the way Jim Henson has," he said. "The Muppets are very much a touchstone to my childhood.”
Miss Piggy will be a star in the Smithsonian's American Stories exhibition, which is set to open in March 2014. Many of the other Muppets and Sesame Street favorites will be featured in a broader puppet display that will begin in November of this year.
Jim Henson passed away in 1990, and his wife Jane died in April of this year.
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