Today's Top Stop: Muppets Take the Smithsonian

Map It:  Smithsonian 

OVER THE WEEKEND, the National Museum of American History lit the lights and raised the curtain on its very own Muppet Show. The exhibit, which runs until September, focuses on the craftsmanship and technology that allowed Jim Henson's creations to transcend their state as inanimate pieces of felt to become permanent societal fixtures and influence generations of childhoods.

The exhibit spans more than 30 years of Henson's work. It includes characters from "Sam and Friends," created while Henson was a student at the University of Maryland and aired locally in the D.C. area on WRC/Channel 4 beginning in 1955. Henson's widow, Jane, told The Post's Margaret Webb Pressler that those early characters -- with names like Mushmellon, Harry the Hipster and Mouldy Hay -- had "just been in boxes." A Muppet named Chicken Liver had ended up in a very specific container -- the Henson kids' toy box.

Along with the Muppets you might not know are some old favorites that Henson voiced himself such as the Swedish Chef, Rowlf, Dr. Teeth and a frog of some kind. The exhibit also includes animatronic figures from the 1977 television show "Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas" and the 1982 movie "The Dark Crystal," both cult favorites.

The big opening this weekend drew crowds and celebs, but now that the hype has passed and folks are off at work, this trip down Muppet memory lane would make the perfect lunch-hour diversion or post-work jaunt.

» National Museum of American History, 14th St. NW and Constitution Avenue; 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily, free. (202) 633-1000 (Smithsonian)

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