Çe n’est pas un gateau.

I'm very, very proud to announce that the Millennium Museum has been online for exactly one year to this day. It's amazing that I've kept at it for this long--I thought for sure it was something I'd mess around with for a while, get bored with, close down, and move on to something else. (Well, I do close down for breaks between seasons, but I always come back to it.)

The occasion is so special that I had planned to decorate a cake with the Museum's logo, but...well, let's just say that the old saying about "the best-laid plans of mice and men" still applies.

First, the cakes got stuck to their pans and broke in half when I tried to get them out. Then, the tubes of glitter-gel I bought had turned to liquid, further scuppering my plans. Finally, I decided to just draw the cake.



...As you can see, the concept needs a little work, but I'm sure it tastes delicious!

Let's keep celebrating with this week's Millennium Items!

 After a long absence, we delve headlong into the pop-culture side of the Millennium celebrations with these Hallmark ornaments. We’ve had the African-American one since 2000; I bought the “regular” one at that Tinley Park doll show.
(You can sense a pattern forming, right? The show took place a month before the blog opened, and I was specifically looking for Millennium-themed items to report on.)
These are miniature replicas of the full-scale Millennium-issue dolls sold through Mattel’s “Collector Club.” Considerably more upscale than regular, store-bought dolls, the actual dolls wear more elaborate dresses and boast a higher level of detail. That being said, however, these dolls are fairly common on the toy show circuit. Depending on the seller, you can usually find them for anywhere from $25 to greater than $40.
 

This is much more firmly a return to the “pop culture” motif we’ve seen a lot of over the past year (Monopoly 2000 Edition; Millennium Salute G.I. Joe; the M&M’s dispenser; etc.) The addition of the African-American one is interesting in light of the New Millennium celebrations—her inclusion pretty much says, “Good morning, 21st Century!”

Ooh, one more thing: At that toy show, I did see a Latina Millennium Princess Barbie. Unfortunately, at the time, I didn’t have the money to buy it. If I ever see it again, you know that I’ll be there to either pick it up or get a decent snapshot.