Highlights Archives
Farley and Festivus: 10th Anniversary
Ten years ago, on December 18, 1997, beloved comedic actor Chris Farley died at the age of 33. For years he had entertained America as a star of television's Saturday Night Live and of such big-screen comedies as Tommy Boy. On that very same evening, NBC aired an episode of the sitcom Seinfeld that introduced the world to the holiday of "Festivus," during which observers erected a plain metal "Festivus pole," aired grievances, and demonstrated feats of strength.
 Chris Farley wearing the jacket that's now in the museum's collections (image courtesy of Tom Farley, Jr.) Aside from their shared date, what do these two events have in common? To start, both have Wisconsin connections. Farley was born and raised in Madison and attended college in Milwaukee, and he was laid to rest in a Madison cemetery. The Festivus pole became a real-life product thanks to an aluminum manufacturer in Milwaukee.
Coincidentally, the Wisconsin Historical Museum recently added to its collections artifacts related to both Farley and Festivus. In June 2007, Governor Jim Doyle, a fan of the Seinfeld television series, donated the Festivus pole that he had displayed at the Executive Residence in 2005. The pole had been presented to Doyle by its manufacturer, the Wagner Companies of Milwaukee.
Mere days after accessioning the Festivus pole, the museum purchased a jacket worn by Chris Farley in the 1996 film, Black Sheep. This movie had been one of the most successful of Farley's career, and the jacket had been featured prominently in promotional posters and photographs for the film.
Both the Farley jacket and the Festivus pole are valued additions to the museum's collections. Both objects illustrate Wisconsin's intersections with American popular culture, and both demonstrate the museum's long-standing efforts to collect contemporary items that represent the recent past.
:: Posted December 17, 2007
|
