Language is a Girl's Best Friend -- "Germany and Our Mutual Fascination"--Where the Boys Are 1960-61 -- "Where The Boys Are" 1985 -- "Where The Boys Are" 2009-10 -- No Oscars for Boys -- Nashville-My Home Away From Home -- "Connie at the Copa" -- "This Is Your Life" -- "Darin at the Copa" -- Blame It On My Youth, Francis Albert -- "Oi" (Way) Marie-My Two Maries -- My Aunt Marie and Me -- Follow The Boys - Do I Have To? -- My Dream Home -- Some Like It Not -- "Viva Las Vegas" -- He's A Nice Guy, That Rickles -- "Nice To Meet You, Too, Frank" -- The Sinatra I Knew -- Bobby Darin, Sandra Dee, Charlie Maffia and Me -- "Over the Rainbow" (With Garland) -- "How You Gonna Keep 'Em Down? Uncle Ray: "Cut the Shit, Princess!" -- Las Vegas, the Mob and a Little Girl from Jersey -- The Godfather and Me -- "A Rrrreally Big Shoo ..." -- "I'm Glad I Waited For You" -- Index

Buried within the collection of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History exists an astonishing group of historical relics from the pre-Revolutionary War era to the present day, many of which have never been on display. Donated to the museum by generations of souvenir collectors, these ordinary objects of extraordinary circumstance all have amazing tales to tell about their roles in American history. Souvenir Nation presents fifty of the museum's most eccentric items. Objects include a chunk broken off Plymouth Rock; a lock of Andrew Jackson's hair; a dish towel used as the flag of truce to end the Civil War; the microphones used by FDR for his Fireside Chats; and the chairs that seated Nixon and Kennedy in their 1960 television debate.