Mr Squiggle, the Man From the Moon, Lands in Museum

Mr. Squiggle, the marionette from the moon who entertained generations of Australian children, has a new home at the National Museum. The beloved children’s television show, which first aired in July 1959, featured Mr. Squiggle arriving in his spacecraft and making impromptu drawings using his pencil nose—with Blackboard telling him to “Hurry up!” every so often. The original Mr. Squiggle, along with his fellow puppets Blackboard, Rocket, Bill Steamshovel, and Gus the Snail, have become part of the museum collection. More than 800 squiggle-related objects, such as scripts, props, and production notes have also been acquired. Mr. Squiggle and Friends was the life’s work of multi-talented puppeteer Norman Hetherington, who also voiced the program’s characters....