On December 13, 2013 The Smithsonian will open a new exhibit: Puppetry in America.
From the Smithsonian’s website:
This artifact wall will display two different rotations of objects from the stage and screen that cover over 160 years of American puppetry. Rotation 1 will include a Chinese-inspired shadow puppet from 1850, Punch and Judy hand puppets, a Slugger Ryan rod puppet, finger puppets from entrepeneur Hazelle Hedges Rollins, paper puppets, marionettes such as TV’s Howdy Doody, an Edgar Bergen Charlie McCarthy ventriloquist puppet, Mr. Moose and Bunny Rabbit from Captain Kangaroo, stop-motions puppets from Tubby the Tuba and Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, as well as several puppets (and Muppets) from The Jim Henson Company.