happy-days-henry-winkler-auctioning-off-the-fonz-original-jacket

‘Happy Days’ Star Henry Winkler is Auctioning Off the Fonz’s Original Jacket

Decades after Happy Days ended its run, who among us is cool enough to wear Fonzie’s custom-made leather jacket?

Or in 2021 speak, who among us can afford Fonzie’s famous jacket — his entire outfit — from Henry Winkler’s time on Happy Days?

We’ll find out next month because one of Winkler’s prized leather jackets is going up for auction at Bonham-Los Angeles. It’s not like he needs the money. Rather, most of the proceeds go to a charity co-founded by his daughter.

The jacket is part of the Fonzie wardrobe that’s up for sale. It includes a vintage white t-shirt, a pair of jeans and the motorcycle boots.

The New York Post reports the outfit has a value estimated at up to $70,000. Like we said, if you want that authentically cool Fonzie vibe, you need the cash or an expansive line of credit.

Fotos International/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Happy Days Star Said He Owned 30 Boxes of Swag He Collected From Shows

In an earlier interview with the Post, the Happy Days icon discovered that he’s a hoarder. He said it’s a lesson he learned from the pandemic. (Others might call it collecting memorabilia).

“I have this space away from everything and in it was 27 to 30 boxes, all of my memorabilia, my swag,” Winkler said. “I didn’t even realize what I had. (And) I didn’t open these boxes for years. Bonhams came and went through it all. I had a jacket that (Happy Days) made me. The first one was stolen from the costume department. So they made six.”

Here’s what happened to the six. Winkler kept two. Happy Days creator Garry Marshall also got two. One went to the Smithsonian. A sixth was stolen from the costume department, so there’s no telling who has it now.

Winkler said the complete Fonzie look included pieces he kept from other jobs. He had all the stuff packed away in the boxes.

“I found in that box my jeans, two T-shirts I wore (on Happy Days) and the boots I originally wore in New York on The Lords of Flatbush with Sly Stallone,” Winkler said in the interview. “I love to take something from one production and take it with me to another. (And) I took the motorcycle engineer boots I bought on Modell’s on 23rd Street (in New York) with me to wear as the Fonz.”

Winkler Said He Took Something From Each Project

And, maybe Winkler really is a hoarder. He admitted that he kept a little something from every project he ever did.

“I have my entire T-shirt collection from every show I produced,” Winkler said. And “every bit of swag from shows I appeared on, including talk shows.”

That’s a lot of stuff, but most of it is valuable. Winkler also donated a ghost facemask from the 1996 horror movie Scream. He played a principal. The mask has a memorabilia value of up to estimated value of up to $30,000.

Winkler is keeping one of the Happy Days jackets. The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History secured one of the chocolate brown jackets in 1980, while Happy Days still was on the air.