Pops!

Wynton Marsalis and Louis Armstrong's trumpet:

Playing an historic instrument from the museum's collection was a first, says Reece.But musical instruments are different than other historic items in the collection, she says. “Instruments are interesting things in that their sole purpose in life was to be played and to live in that kind of way. The National Museum American History brings out a couple of instruments that get played every once in a while. But it’s a kind of tug of war, between the conservation needs of the object and whether it can be played without any damage.”