Fonzie's Jacket No Longer On Display At Smithsonian

Deleted member 16736 · Sep 8, 2012

For many Americans, Fonzie's jacket is why we love leather jackets in the first place. Most of us didn't know people who had jackets that cool, so it was a thrill to watch him in his jacket in every week. Well, apparently the Smithsonian didn't think it was thrilling enough because last year they removed his jacket from permanent display. I was very saddened to hear about it. Here is a discussion from last year on the subject. Does anybody know if it was put back?

http://megomuseum.com/community/showthread.php?65419-Fonzie-s-Jacket-Removed-from-Smithsonian

ButteMT61 · Sep 8, 2012

I know they rotate things. And sometimes, they have to do some work on items. I remember seeing it and thinking "my god, that thing's small!"
It is. Hope it goes back, it's a classic. The Fonz was the coolest when we were in Jr High. Bus rides were spent doing the previous show's dialog over and over. Good times, er, Happy Days

Silver Dollar · Sep 8, 2012

It's o.k. so long as they don't get rid of it or sell it to a collector so they can get something else.

m0nk · Sep 8, 2012

The also took Indy's hat and jacket out of view as well. Certain items get rotated in and out of circulation as they're relevant.

McMurdo · Sep 8, 2012

This was taken in May of last year

I hope they put it back out at some point.

V.C. Brunswick · Sep 8, 2012

I for one would like to see George Washington's choppers.

John in Covina · Sep 8, 2012

Time does march on. Happy Days was an iconic show that has a rapidly shrinking amount of relevance to today's TV viewers.

Seb Lucas · Sep 9, 2012

It's currently showing again on TV over here but I've met kids who have never heard of it. So I'm not sure if the jacket is all that relevant.

Deleted member 16736 · Sep 9, 2012

John in Covina said:
Time does march on. Happy Days was an iconic show that has a rapidly shrinking amount of relevance to today's TV viewers.

Maybe they should put Kim Kardashian's brassiere on display.

scottyrocks · Sep 9, 2012

scottyrocks · Sep 9, 2012

ButteMT61 said:
I know they rotate things. And sometimes, they have to do some work on items. I remember seeing it and thinking "my god, that thing's small!"

Yeah, I remember reading, long ago, that Winkler was a little guy (he's probably wider now) and that he wore lifts while all the other guys wore regular flat shoes.

I Adore Film Noir · Sep 9, 2012

I'm sorry they've rotated the jacket out of display, it had magical properties.
Remember how he'd tap the Coke machine a certain way and get a free one

?

flat-top · Sep 9, 2012

[video=youtube;Xl9apYmX9KQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xl9apYmX9KQ[/video]

scotrace · Sep 9, 2012

V.C. Brunswick said:
I for one would like to see George Washington's choppers.

They are on display at Mount Vernon.

ButteMT61 · Sep 9, 2012

Joel Shapiro said:
Maybe they should put Kim Kardashian's brassiere on display.

Don't think that's NOT a possibility.

GoodTimesGone · Sep 10, 2012

John in Covina said:
Time does march on. Happy Days was an iconic show that has a rapidly shrinking amount of relevance to today's TV viewers.

Happy Days WAS a great show. The best episodes were in the first two seasons. The third, maybe fourth season it was okay. The last years it was barely recognizable. I think if they would have stayed on the original concept of a show about a teenage boy and his friends growing up in the fifties and not gone too many seasons, it would have left a more lasting legacy. Fonzie was cool the first couple seasons, but when they made him into some kind of superhero it went downhill. "Jumping the shark" is a phrase that started with Happy Days going too far. Other bad episodes included the devil coming to Arnold's to take Fonzies' soul and Mork from Ork coming to Arnold's to take a human back to his planet.

scottyrocks · Sep 10, 2012

The first season the Fonz didn't wear a leather jacket. He had one of those cotton poplar jackets. And he was a minor character.

In season two they gave him a brown leather jacket for (one of) the same reasons that Indiana Jones was given a brown jacket - because black leather was deemed to be too severe for a character that was meant to be likable.

flat-top · Sep 10, 2012

GoodTimesGone said:
The Other bad episodes included the devil coming to Arnold's to take Fonzies' soul and Mork from Ork coming to Arnold's to take a human back to his planet.

The devil episode was a pilot for this short lived sitcom:
[video=youtube;m6UBPGfOZ1I]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6UBPGfOZ1I&feature=related[/video]

It was on Sunday evenings. I actually watched it.
And the very first Mork appearance was was the set up for Mork and Mindy. The second time Mork was on was after Mork and Mondy was a hit.

xOUTLAWx · Sep 10, 2012

I Adore Film Noir said:
I'm sorry they've rotated the jacket out of display, it had magical properties.
Remember how he'd tap the Coke machine a certain way and get a free one ?

magical properties?! so tell me, if I snap my fingers a amanda will the aero version of the jacket drop down to a less ridiculous price? the jacket is 600 when the house A2's starts at 450. Aren't the fonzie jacket based off A2s?

964ccde05dcb264_happy%20days%20p1%20copy.jpg

What is the big difference between brown fqhh and vintage brown?

Seb Lucas · Sep 10, 2012

scottyrocks said:
The first season the Fonz didn't wear a leather jacket. He had one of those cotton poplar jackets. And he was a minor character.

In season two they gave him a brown leather jacket for (one of) the same reasons that Indiana Jones was given a brown jacket - because black leather was deemed to be too severe for a character that was meant to be likable.

I don't think the Indy jacket had anything to do with brown being "nice". I think that's a tradition someone stuck to the narrative later on. I think it had more to do with the Indy jacket being a modified A2 with knits removed and a back flap to allow for the whip placement. In fact, all the pre-Ford auditions for Indy had the actors wear an A2.

Fonzie's Jacket No Longer On Display At Smithsonian

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