The original version of Kermit the Frog, created by Jim Henson out of a green coat and pingpong balls, is being donated to the Smithsonian, USA Today is reporting. The puppet is one of ten characters from the 1950s TV show Sam and Friends that is being given to the museum by Jim’s widow Jane Henson. Apart from Kermit, the puppets include characters who would later become the inspiration for Sesame Street Muppets Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster, along with Jim’s oldest surviving creation, Pierre the French Rat. “It certainly shows the Muppets at the beginning of the career of a large family of entertainers,” said Smithsonian curator Dwight Blocker Bowers. “More than anything, I think it shows the genius of Jim Henson.”