A simple gift bag.

I've had this gift bag ever since the Museum started back in 2012, but it never seemed to make its way onto the blog...until now.

It's a simple black bag with a satin texture, silver stars, Milky Way-esque spirals, and a "warping" starfield like Star Wars' hyperdrive effects in the background, evoking the idea that the 21st Century will involve new frontiers and exploration to further into space than we had ever dreamed.

All around the foreground, "HAPPY NEW YEAR 2000" is presented in futuristic, MICR number-inspired fonts, invoking greater use of computers than ever before.

There's not much else to say here, really.

The Pillsbury Doughboy

 When you think of baking, the first name that probably comes to mind is Pillsbury. Their ready-to-bake dough products have been well-known on supermarket shelves for as long as I can remember. I even managed to get their Crescent Rolls onto our Thanksgiving table for a few years on the strength of an ad campaign in which the Pilgrims had them on their table! 

Grandma once told me a story about when she was in Chicago in about the mid-60s. Some gentlemen took her into a small room and played on a film projector the first commercial to feature their mascot, the Pillsbury Doughboy. After that, they asked her on a survey card what she thought. She must have liked him a great deal, because he went on to much fame and fortune! And he even went on to ring in the new millennium.

Picture reproduced from a Mercari listing

There he is, now wearing a nifty little "2000 Millennium" shirt along with his chef's hat and neckerchief. Debuting on television screens in 1965, the Doughboy has been a familiar face on cans of dough, bags of flour, and boxes of waffles for almost a century. 

"Hoo-hoo!"

The Sacagawea Dollar Coin

 

Images reproduced from usmint.gov

Ask the average Joe on the street what the coins of America are, and he'll tell you: penny, nickel, dime, quarter. But what he may not mention are half-dollar and dollar coins, which depicted John F. Kennedy and Dwight D. Eisenhower respectively, and were a fair sight larger than the quarter, making them impractical as pocket change. I sometimes got them at my job from our older clients.

Well, in the mid-70s, the US Mint discontinued the Eisenhower, replacing it with a smaller dollar coin depicting women's suffragist Susan B. Anthony, whose tireless work enshrined women with the right to vote following the ratification of the 19th Amendment.

I remember in fifth grade that someone brought one of these to school, and there was a week-long search when they'd mislaid it.

The year before that, about 1997 or so, I was on a volleyball team--this was fourth grade. While we were doing our thing, PBS was running a Ken Burns miniseries documenting the Lewis and Clark expedition following Thomas Jefferson's purchase of Louisiana from Napoleon. 

And leading Lewis and Clark on that expedition was a young woman named Scagawea, who navigated them down the trail while carrying her infant on her back...and who, in the year 2000, got her very own dollar coin, which you can see above.

She is only the second woman in American history to grace a coin, and there was no better choice for the new millennium than a guide, an explorer, to show us a new way forward while honoring Native American contributions to our historical tapestry...something that America's culture downplays to its peril... 

Sears Wish Book, 1999 and 2000 Editions

Hello, everyone, and welcome to our 200TH POST!

The Sears Wish Book. That most anticipated of direct-mail publications, rivaled only by Fingerhut's  and J.C. Penney's annual volumes of Yuletide delights. Every year, it was like holding the key to Aladdin's Cave of Wonders in my hands, packed as it was to the brim with all the most fabulous presents a kid could open on Christmas day...or dream of opening.

Sears began as Sears, Roebuck, and Co. as a mail-order catalog at the beginning of the 20th Century, and later moved on to brick-and-mortar retail locations. For decades, Sears called the Windy City its home, and the skyscraper which once bore its name served as a broadcasting antenna for all of Chicago's television stations. 

More than that, though, Sears represented stability. Ever since I was very little, Chicago Ridge Mall had Sears as its most prominent anchor store, and Dad used to get our cars checked up and repaired all the time at their auto center. The company made a good name for me by subsidizing children's fare on PBS like Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and also by backing the North American leg of Phil Collins' Both Sides of the World tour in 1995. 

This past year, when the Chicago Ridge branch closed for good, the world felt a little less stable. Walking into the Spirit Halloween pop-up this past October felt oddly ghoulish in a way that it normally doesn't: Sears' corpse was still comparatively warm. In truth, we all know that the company's days were numbered following reports of competition within the company, its stores, and its subsidiaries--K-Mart's demise heralded the first tolling of the bells--but it's still saddening. 

All right, let's get to it and rekindle some nostalgia with the 1999 and 2000 volumes. I chose 1999 because it seemed more likely to have some Millennium-themed goodies, and 2000 because it might hold more of the same, but as leftovers. 

Here is the most relevant section from the 1999 edition.

We've already covered a lot of this stuff, so I will point out the most interesting things.

First is a teddy bear with a digital countdown clock, which automatically gives it far more personality than the Countdown clock I previously posted.

Next are a child's backpack, digital organizer, stationery set, and activity book set, with a scrapbook similar to an earlier book I posted. The organizer is interesting for being somewhat passé in the smartphone age.

Third is an Oregon Scientific countdown clock. It does not seem to be Millennium-themed, but has many bells and whistles such as a backlight, snooze, and countdown bar graph.

Fourth are Monopoly Millennium and Millennium Princess Barbie, which made it into Happy Meal form. The Monopoly game will be a video review.

Fifth is Trivial Pursuit Millennium, which I covered in mid-2013.

Finally, and far more interesting, are Minnie Mouse and a Millennium Cabbage Patch Baby. I can feel a separate entry for Cabbage Patch Kids coming on.

This Wish Book is for Christmas 2000-2001. The Millennium itself had already come and gone as a marketing fad, so this one doesn't have a dedicated section. More than that, it doesn't have an awful lot of 2000-specific stuff. What little there is is relegated to "the first coin of the new millennium." For example, one of then is a full-color version of the Sacagawea Dollar Coin...which just happens to be our next article!

Jack In The Box

2026 marks the 75th anniversary of the fast food chain Jack In The Box, and in fact one opened in my area on 78th and Cicero late last year, where an Arby's formerly stood. We never had it in Illinois, because it mainly served the West Coast--indeed, I didn't see one until our high school choir trip to Hawaii in 2003! And it was only relevant to me because an E.coli outbreak linked to the chain made the evening news in 1993. 

I have tried their food, and it's miles better and more affordable than the competition. Better portions, better value, and far better taste all around.

A cursory search reveals that JITB in fact pioneered the modern, intercom-based drive-thru, which has since become standard for most other fast food chains as well as banks and pharmacies. 

Their mascot was a stylized clown with a spherical white head and conical hat, and they used to give out antenna toppers with their meals. Antenna toppers just like this one!

This is a 2000 vintage JITB topper, complete with party hat and horn! 

Millennium Princess Teresa

 

When I was younger, my mom frequented Gigi's Dolls and Sherry's Teddy Bears on the north side of Chicago to build her doll collection, in the hopes that she might have a significant nest egg for the future.

In 2008, the economy went south for many years, wrecking those plans. 

In 2020, she passed away, and my father and I had to sell off the collection in pieces to pay the bills. We ended up selling a fair amount back to Gigi's, but, on one of those trips, the owner allowed me to take this one for free. I was at the front desk, with the 20 and change in my hand, willing to pay, and she said, "No, just go ahead and take it." 

This is the Toys'R'Us exclusive Millennium Princess edition of Barbie's friend Teresa. She wears more or less the same dress as Barbie, but in a resplendent forest green. She also has a different tiara and keepsake ornament. 

CNN 2000 (Part One)

 

I can't remember where this came from. It might have been eBay. It's something I always meant to post, but never got around to doing so.

Like the earlier ABC 2000 Millennium Highlights video, this is a compilation of New Year's 1999/2000 celebrations from all around the world. 

CNN is the very first 24-hour cable news channel. The brainchild of media mogul Ted Turner, CNN launched on June 1st, 1980, which means that, this June, it will be on the near side of 50. It's frightening how swiftly the years fly by. 

Since its debut, it has been ubiquitous in airports and hotel lobbies all around the world. That's pretty much my only experience with it, for we were antenna-only until the early 2010s. Well, that, and M's snarky quip in GoldenEye: "Unlike the Americans, we [at MI-6] prefer not to get our bad news from CNN."

Like the earlier ABC video, this begins on Millennium Island in Kiribati and moves across 26 time zones from New Zealand and Australia to Asia, Europe, Africa, the United Kingdom, and finally the United States.

The most notable moments, the ones that I personally found the most interesting:

In Australia, Sydney Harbour Bridge exploded with a gorgeous fireworks show all along its length, accompanied to a majestic orchestral arrangement of "Auld Lang Syne."

In South Korea ("the good side, where they make all the widgets," as my high-school Consumer Education teacher would have said), the news displayed the first 21st Century baby born in the country, while a huge pendulum swung for the Countdown.

In Hong Kong, the government's official celebration saw a wingsuit-clad Jackie Chan fly toward the stage on wires to deliver the keynote speech.

In Moscow, Boris Yeltsin passed the presidential torch to Vladimir Putin. 

In Egypt, the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx--the last surviving Wonder of the World--basked in the glow of a fireworks show in a dusk-to-dawn celebration with a full soundtrack composed by Jean-Michel Jarre. The year 2000 marked Egypt's seventh millennium.

In South Africa, Nelson Mandela passed a presidential candle to his successor, Thabo Mbeki. He lit this candle in his former prison cell on Robben Island, where he served an 18-year sentence as a prisoner of conscience. 

In Paris, the Eiffel Tower boasted a gorgeous pyrotechnics show, with sparklers beginning at its base, as if to resemble a shuttle preparing to launch, followed by a countdown fireworks going up along its length and top and, at the stroke of midnight, little comets shooting out from along the tower.

In a unified Berlin, the Brandenburg Gate lit up with fireworks and lasers. It's meaningful because Berlin spent most of the 20th Century carved in half, with a wall stretching for miles to separate the East and West. In fact, the Gate is where Ronald Reagan delivered his speech: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" The new, healed Berlin was only a little more than eleven years old in 2000.

In Rome, Pope John Paul II delivered his annual speech from St. Peter's Basilica. The Pope will become very important in a long-form book report for the Lenten season...stay tuned.

In London, the Millennium Dome, the world's largest domed structure, hosted a huge party, while the Queen of England lit a beacon in the Thames River, which in turn lit beacons elsewhere in England and in Scotland and Wales. 39 tons of fireworks erupted along the Thames in a 15-minute show that you could see from space.

In North America...ah, that one deserves its own article, because almost every state had its own celebration. The North America side of things gets very short shrift in this video, since we're all aware of Times Square and Las Vegas, and they all get their own local news coverage. This video served much more as a way of bringing the world's parties to American viewers.

Pheasant Run Millennium Dinner Plate

 

Pheasant Run Resort opened in Kane County/St. Charles, Illinois in 1963. For over fifty years, it boasted a hotel, golf course, and convention center, and was popular enough to get dinner plates like this custom-made for a New Year's Eve party.

Unfortunately, the resort complex struggled in the late 2010s and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The management company couldn't find a new buyer, and it foundered. Two fires in 2022 and 2023 served as its funeral pyre.

(The Kane County area is well-known to my family. Ever since 1992 or so, we would make an annual trip to the Kane County Fairgrounds for their triannual toy show. Mom bought dolls, and I grew my Ghostbusters and later Doctor Who collections. The last time we went as a family was 2004; the last time Dad and I attended was 2021. The first thing I remember asking for was an ERTL Batmobile, which I still have.)

https://wildcatchronicle.org/25164/features/with-pheasant-run-demolished-st-charles-looks-for-new-development/

A Brief History of Nabisco and Oreo Cookies

Ah, Oreo. That wonderful treat, two chocolate biscuits with cream between them. Now 113 years old, it seems they've been around for as long as anyone can remember, and they show no signs of going anywhere. Most of that staying power, I'd wager, is down to the name: it has a pleasant ring to it and it makes you smile every time you say it. No other cookie has become a staple of Americana in quite the way that Oreo has.

But what of Nabisco, that fine purveyor of Chips Ahoy, Nutter Butter, Chicken-in-a-Biskit, Ritz Crackers, and countless other goodies? Well, just sit down and hear a maritime tale. It all begins in 1792 with Pearson & Sons, which produced a foodstuff for sea voyages called "pilot bread," or, as it's more commonly called, hardtack, a dense, almost inedible biscuit most commonly used for military rations.

In 1889, a businessman named William Moore bought and merged Pearson & Sons along with five other companies to form the New York Biscuit Company; nearly a decade later, NYBC merged with rival American Biscuit and Manufacturing Company to form the National Biscuit Company. Over the years, Nabisco changed hands a few times, being owned by R.J. Reynolds in the 80s, Kraft in the 90s, and, finally, it became part of the Mondelez conglomerate in the 21st Century. 

(Source: https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-nabisco-1991760)

The Nabisco factory on 73rd and Kedzie has for decades been something of a historical landmark to those who live in and around my hometown of Evergreen Park, and long may it continue to stand.

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For as long as I can remember, Oreo cookies were sold in collector's tins with special artwork every Christmas season. Several companies engaged in similar promotions--Coca-Cola sells Coke in retro glass bottles to mimic the famous advertisement of Santa enjoying an ice-cold Coke instead of the traditional milk and cookies.

Here is the 1999 Millennium edition of the Oreo tin. 

The lid and sides feature a montage of different logos and print ads from all of Oreo's history. A ribbon along the outside reads:

"You grew up with it. You grew young with it. It made you feel warm inside when it was cold outside. You shared it. You savored it. It brought all of you a little bit closer and made life a little bit sweeter. What is it? Only Oreo. Making the next century as sweet as the last..."

On the back is a poem entitled "Celebration."

"With the end of the century

Well in our sight

It's the right time to pause

And reflect our delight.

For the joys of the past

Form a wondrous look back

Now the only thing missing 

Is a great tasting snack.

An Oreo cookie

As the big event nears 

America's favorite 

Throughout the years

With those two chocolate wafers

And that sweet creme within

It's the one that we've loved

Since we first learned to grin

And while we can't help but wonder

What the future will bring

We at least know our parents

Did the very same thing

So by twist, lick, and dunking

All that Oreo fun

We'll ensure that the next

Century's much like this one.

Now let's celebrate 

In the warmth of that glow

And raise our milk glasses

And toast O-R-E-O"

Nice little pre-Mondelez-era collectible.