Heisenberg will live again, thanks to a big donation from the "Breaking Bad" folks to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

The museum announced this week that Sony Pictures TV had donated 10 props from the series to the Smithsonian's permanent collection, and some or all of them will go on display during an upcoming special cultural exhibit set to debut in the next few years. Iconic items from the show that are now part of American history include: Walt's (Bryan Cranston) Heisenberg hat; packets of (fake) blue meth; the gas masks and hazmat suits worn by Jesse (Aaron Paul) and Walt in the lab; Hank's (Dean Norris) DEA ID badge; a matchbook advertising Saul Goodman's (Bob Odenkirk) services; and cups from Los Pollos Hermanos.

According to Smithsonian curator Dwight Blocker Bowers, there were several reasons behind the decision to select items from "Breaking Bad" -- and other television shows -- to display. He said:

Series television has always interpreted the landscape of the American dream. From the happy, escapist vision of dramas like 'Lassie' to situation comedies like 'Happy Days,' to name but two of the shows with artifacts in the national collection. But the pioneering 'Breaking Bad' explores the ambivalence of the contemporary American dream, where good an evil intermix and there are no moral absolutes. In its story created by Vince Gilligan, it tells a dark tale of Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with terminal cancer and, with a student as his partner, starts making methamphetamine to ensure his family with financial security.

The "Breaking Bad" items are expected to go on display sometime in 2018.

[via: Natural Museum of American History, Breaking Bad]

Photo credit: Breaking Bad/Facebook