Moving forward into 2016...

This is the point where I'd normally make some big, solemn pronouncement, but I'm too elated with how the current New Year logo up on display turned out.

The bookends on either side of the main banner come from an idea I've had for a long time, but had never quite figured out how to carry out. It started out with a concept for an animated logo:

"We look at a champagne glass in long shot and move forward. As we get closer and closer, we see the bubbles in greater detail. Gradually, the bubbles turn into tiny Millennium Museum logos. One of them pauses halfway and grows to fill up the screen."

The animation idea never went anywhere, and the third sentence is now all that remains. Here, I'll show you what I mean in close-up:

...Granted, it doesn't quite carry across at smaller resolutions.

Merry Christmas and a Happy 3rd Anniversary!

I just remembered that the Millennium Museum turned three years old just three days ago! That it's been online for that long is pretty impressive.

Still, I didn't log-on today just to gloat. It's time for some actual content!

I bought Celeste at this year's "Memories to Go" village-wide garage sale. She was marked at $25, but her wings fell off as I was buying it...I used this to haggle her price-tag down to $15! (Aren't I just a naughty boy?) To think it was $119 on first release!

On to the facts: Celeste was a limited-edition collector's piece from the Danbury Mint. She "is dressed in a flowing, hand-tailored tunic featuring layers of silken fabric trimmed in gold and accented with golden cordage...Her graceful wings are made of genuine feathers."

She is rather gorgeously made, I will say that much. Believe it or not, I got her more-or-less complete: she had her wings, trumpet, banner, and the brochure (pictured) that came with her. I may have the certificate of authenticity, but I'm not sure. (Unless it's included on the bottom of her stand...)

Upon first release, I estimate that she only really appealed to those who already collected angel figurines. In fact, I'm pretty sure that Danbury had a long-running line of angels to begin with, and this was just the 2000 edition. It's kitsch, but I'm glad I found her when I did (and I only bought her because I didn't have my camera on me at the time!).

A good update!

Hey, there!

Sorry for having taken such a long time to post anything at all to the Museum. 2015's been a pretty crazy year for me and my family, and I haven't had as much time to devote to this place as I would have liked.

I have some good news for the New Year, though: I'll be getting back to Millennium in earnest. I think I've spent enough time away from it to really get my head back into gear--watching the episodes almost back-to-back kind of beats you over the head with how dark and gloomy it is. Not a pretty place to be when you have to get up and go to work each day. That's one of the reasons I took a break from it. The other is...a fair sight more embarrassing. You see, I had somewhat foolishly mislaid Season 1, Discs 5 and 6 a few months ago, and I've been trying to find them ever since. Guess what? Tonight, I found it! Wa-hey!

All that being said, get ready for 2016, and a whole new year of content!

Mr. Millennium, over and out...for now.

The Joy of Collecting (Part Three)

We're getting down to the last three!

1. Walter Scott Lenox founded his ceramics company in 1889. Since then, Lenox has produced high-quality glassware, china tableware, and fine collectibles.

I'm not entirely sure when the company began offering angels at Christmastime, but this one, the "Guardian of the Millennium," was their 1999 offering. At her side, the New Year's Baby sends a peace-dove from his hand, while she carefully holds a world globe and watches over it with gentle eyes. I don't know if I've had anything about peace doves yet, but if not, it's one for the list.

It's a beautiful sculpture, don't get me wrong, but I find it aggressively kitschy, like those "Precious Moments" figurines. Its only appeal is to anyone who collects angel figurines.

2. Caithness Glass returns with a second paperweight. Sculpted by Colin Terris, it features an abstract "dancer" that's meant to symbolize the joy of the impending celebrations. It reminds me of the Futurist movement from the early 20th Century, but infused with a decidedly 21st Century sensibility.

The dancer's dress bears the colors of the British flag, and her head is a "bubble" inside the solid glass that looks very much like a crystal ball--a way to see the future.

I like this one--it deals with the millennium in a more unusual way than most of the other things we've seen previously.

3. Halcyon Days first sold collectible enamel boxes in 1950. These are but three of their Millennium issues. The first is a "time capsule" that displays important things from the last hundred years: a cellular phone; space travel; a computer; the DNA double helix; a camcorder; advances in medicine; and a satellite, among other things.

The second 1S 4 FR1CK1N' N3RD depicts a Millennium bug attacking a computer monitor. The screen reads, "The Millennium Bug Bytes [sic] Into The Year 2000."

The third is a quiet, pastoral scene of a green field at sunrise (a reference to the old British hymn "Jerusalem"? "And did those feet in ancient times walk upon England's mountains green...").

In the foreground, there's a bloom of flowers which are called "angel's trumpets." As I mentioned before, the color violet is an uncertain, but positive, hue; that the flowers are angel's trumpets adds to its positive connotation.

Okay...This is a good return to form. I think, for the new year, that I shall resolve to post a little more regularly than I have been.

The Joy of Collecting III (Part Two)

1. "Welcome to 2000" came from Hallmark. Uniquely, it's dated 1999 and 2000, and it shows the Old Man of the past year deferring to the New Year Baby. Looking at it now, it reminds me of a Mel Brooks character, "The Two-Thousand-Year-Old Man"...I should probably get myself a copy of The Two-Thousand-Year-Old Man in the Year 2000 and write about that.

2. We return to Department 56's pieces with this Times Square model. Uniquely, this is a New Year-themed decoration, not a Christmas one. What strikes me the most is that Department 56 went for a "timeless" look: The front of the building lacks the loud, flashing displays that have become so associated with New Year's Eve, harking back to a time when the building was brand new...and ensuring that it doesn't look out of place with D-56's other models.

As the description states, it boasts an actual working ball, which lights up and drops (is it motorized, or must one set it by hand?); it also looks like the real-life ball that was made especially for the millennium. The top of the building says, "Happy New Year 2000," a mixed blessing in this case--it's nice that they're commemorating the new era, but I would have liked it to be a generic "Happy New Year" display that one can put up every year. No choice but to make do and put numbers over the last two zeroes!

3. Christopher Radko's company has produced blown-glass Christmas ornaments since 1985. This one, Millennium Magic, depicts snowmen frolicking around and within a snow-covered "2000." Nothing special here; just a little bit of fun.

4. Scotland-based Caithness Glass has been in the business of fine glassware since 1961. This paperweight isn't a limited-edition piece. Like the Christopher Radko ornament above, I have very little to say about this one. It combines the World Globe (covered in several other areas) with a clock-face, and...that's about it.

The Joy of Collecting III (Part One)

Another year, another Christmas...and this year, we conclude the Joy of Collecting article.

1. Our first exhibit is this handsome Santa Claus figurine from Possible Dreams. Possible Dreams appears to be the "Santa" imprint of a company called Department 56 Corner, which specializes in Christmas- and other holiday-themed model displays. The company also releases Jim Shore sculptures and ornaments, which have been seen in catalogs such as "Betty's Attic."

He's made of a hard, molded cloth, branded "Clothtique," and, as the description notes, he's "filled with optimism for the New Year."

2. "Girl with Rose" was sculpted by Kim Anderson and released as part of Enesco's Pretty as a Picture line of collectibles. Her webpage has a link to her Ebay store, where one can find most of her figurines and other pieces. Frankly, I'm puzzled about this piece's inclusion in the article: There doesn't seem to be anything "millennium" about it.

3. Muffy Vanderbear was created by Barbara Isenberg in 1984, and the bears were distributed by the North American Bear Company since then. This entry, "From Dusk to Dawn," pairs her with a rabbit named Hoppy Vanderhare; the two represent the closing of the old era and the beginning of the new era.

4. Fenton Art Glass began selling fine glass art in 1905. Since then, many people have collected Fenton's pieces, and North America boasts three organizations for Fenton collectors: Fenton Art Glass Collectors of America; the National Fenton Glass Society; and the Pacific Northwest Fenton Association.

These three pieces--a vase, a bowl, and a Happiness Bird--represent a small part of Fenton's Millennium Collection. They're made of "Golden Glow" glass, which I assume means that golden flakes are rolled into the translucent liquid glass before the articles are shaped. Also, and this is perhaps most interesting, they bear a "butterfly" motif.

The butterfly can represent, among other things, changes and new beginnings--the caterpillar spins a cocoon, waits through fall and winter, and emerges in the spring as a beautiful butterfly.