Southern Belle Marionette: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This is one of a pair of marionettes made of molded plastic and dressed in clothing resembling a southern belle and her gentlemen friend. They were used on television to advertise a popular alcoholic drink, Southern Comfort, and are operated with eight strings. The female character is dressed in a fussy, white organza ruffled dress with a yellow underskirt, a matching yellow silk ribbon bow at the neckline and waist and dons a matching white organza hat trimmed with lace.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1957
• user: Rollins, Hazelle H.
• user: Southern Comfort Company
• maker: Rollins, Hazelle H.
• Object Name: puppet
• Physical Description: plastic (overall material)
• Physical Description: wood (overall material)
• Physical Description: fabric (overall material)
• Physical Description: silk (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 16 1/2 in x 4 in; 41.91 cm x 10.16 cm
• place made: United States: Missouri, Kansas City
• general subject association: Puppetry
• general subject association: Radio and television broadcasting
• Subject: Television broadcasts
• Subject: Consumerism
• Subject: Drinking
• general subject association: Television
• ID Number: 1982.0362.02
• accession number: 1982.0362
• catalog number: 1982.0362.02
• Credit Line: Hazelle H. and J. Woodson Rollins
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.