Sun has officially consigned H&P to history. Yesterday, Sun donated the hitchhiking duo of Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard to the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose for posterity.  After their long, sometimes harrowing journey around the Bay Area, the GPS-enabled, plywood cutouts of the HP founders created by YLEM artists Jim Pallas and Julie Newdoll have been retired from their adventures.

H & P -- as the sculpture is known -- are hoping to be reunited with fellow Silicon Valley icons, including Gordon Moore, Frederick Terman and William Shockley, at the Tech Museum.  The museum is looking for additional benefactors to purchase and donate the other cutout statues in the hopes of mounting a an exhibit called, "The Spirit of Silicon Valley."

Photos of H & P's arrival at The Tech are below.  More photos from today's festivities and their complete travelogue is available here.

Back in August, Sun rescued the pair after they were turned away by officials at Hewlett-Packard, who apparently chose to shun their company's namesakes.  Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that HP seems to have lost Bill and Dave's spirit of inventiveness and fun.  Not to worry though, H & P spent about a week at Sun's Menlo Park campus being reacquainted with a company razor-focused on innovation.  They met with CEO Jonathan Schwartz and Chairman Scott McNealy during their stay, toured some engineering labs and socialized at the campus cafeteria.  

After their visit, Sun sent the duo back on the road in search of HP's lost sense of humor, and they wandered Silicon Valley some more.  Despite a jaunt up to San Francisco, they seemed to prefer the cozy confines of Stanford University.  

Along the way, the pair's adventures landed them on the front-page of the San Jose Mercury News, and they also got coverage in The Register, Associated Press and the San Francisco Chronicle blog, which suggested HP might be "in the early stages of creating a corporate-wide lighten-up strategy."

For now, Sun is happy to have helped two of Silicon Valley's most cherished figures find a suitable and dignified home at the Tech Museum.

“After being shunned by HP officials, Sun rescued us back in August and now has found us a more welcoming home at the Tech.”

H & P posing with Dr. Peter Friess, President, The Tech Museum of Innovation. Sun donated H & P to The Tech on December 19th.  The museum is hoping to mount an exhibit of all the Silicon Valley icon sculptures and is seeking benefactors for the other legends such as Gordon Moore, Frederick Terman and William Shockley. 

“Is that Scott McNealy's handprint up there?  After our tour of Sun, we're convinced it's a company that embodies the kind of innovation we once championed at HP.”

H & P talk about the joys of Java with the next generation of Silicon Valley engineers and entrepreneurs.