AmericaJR’s Gloria and Jerome Rzucidlo recently visited the Detroit Institute of Arts in midtown Detroit. A Kermit the Frog puppet created by Jim Henson in 1969 and donated by him to the DIA in 1971 is back on display. Kermit first appeared in 1955, in the premiere of WRC-TV’s Sam and Friends as a prototype Kermit, created from a discarded coat belonging to Henson’s mother and two ping pong ball halves for eyes. The DIA’s original 1947 Howdy Doody puppet, last on view in 2015, is also be on view.
Prototype for Kermit the Frog (1969) by Jim Henson 
Howdy Doody (1948) by Velma Dawson 
Old television set with Howdy Doody 
H. M. Woggle Bug, T. E. (late 1940s) by Burr Tillstrom 
Left to right: Jack Pumpkinhead (late 1940s) by Burr Tillstrom, Tin Man (late 1940s) by Burr Tillstrom and Tip (late 1940s) by Burr Tillstrom 
Mombi the Witch (late 1940s) by Burr Tillstrom 
Bird (late 1940s) by Burr Tillstrom 
To see Kermit the Frog, Howdy Doody and more, visit the Puppet cases on the 1st floor of the Detroit Institute of Arts. 5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI 48202. More info at: https://www.dia.org/events/welcome-back-kermit