COLUMBUS, Ohio - It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Superman -- his suit, anyway -- and it's headed to Columbus.
George Reeves' iconic red, blue and yellow outfit goes on display Saturday at the Ohio History Center, part of the museum's ongoing exhibit on the 1950s.
The super suit was worn by Reeves, an Iowa native, during the TV series "Adventures of Superman," which aired nationally from 1952 to 1958.
The suit has been at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History for the past 30 years, but hasn't been on display since 2006. Its appearance in Columbus is the costume's first public showing in nearly a decade.
"It's such a big part of American 1950s culture and history," said Jane Hammond, a textile conservator with ICA-Art Conservation in Cleveland, who helped the Ohio History Connection install the suit.
Compared to more elaborate costumes of today, the Superman suit is simply made, said Hammond: a knit jersey top, tights with stirrups, suede boots and a silk cape. "Yet it conveyed all the elements of strength and protection that these razzle-dazzle costumes of today try to do," she said.
If you go: Ohio History Center
The suit will be featured alongside several other additions to the History Center's "1950s: Building the American Dream" exhibit, including comic books, records, TV memorabilia, radios and more items of mid-century pop culture.
Superman was created in the 1930s by Clevelanders Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who also dreamed up their hero's distinctive outfit: blue tights, red boots, a yellow belt and classic S across the chest.
"Let's put him in this kind of costume and let's give him a big S on his chest, and a cape, make him as colorful as we can and as distinctive as we can," said Shuster, as quoted by Les Daniels in his 1998 book, "Superman: The Complete History."
The suit saw several variations in the early years, but has remained remarkably unchanged in recent decades.
The one displayed in Columbus was donated to the Smithsonian by DC Comics in 1987 for a 50th-anniversary celebration of the world's most recognizable superhero.
It will be in Columbus through early January. Eventually, the Smithsonian plans to return the suit to public view as part of an exhibit exploring American culture from the colonial era to the present.