Now, Bear With Me...(Part 2)

 I have yet another bear! This one was found at the Salvation Army Thrift Store. I have far too much stuff right now, so I simply took a picture. 

Like Harrods and many other high-end department stores,  the legendary F.A.O. Schwarz sold special-edition teddy bears for Christmas. 

F.A.O. Schwarz was the name in toys for over a century. In 1862, German immigrant Frederick Augustus Otto Schwarz opened Toy Bazaar in Baltimore, Maryland, and he opened a New York City outlet in 1870. 

Readers of a certain age may remember Schwarz and its famous "walking piano" from the movie Big, in which Tom Hanks danced Hoagy Carmichael's "Heart and Soul" across its black and white keys, but I remember going to the Downtown Chicago outlet when I was about five or six. The one thing I definitely remember is the wonderful, whimsical store clock with the animatronic face, and its jingle that played every so often: ♪Welcome to our world, welcome to our world, welcome to our world of toys!♫ There might have been a replica of the keyboard from the New York one, but for the life of me I cannot remember whether or not it actually lit up. Two toys that pop up in my memory are a set of teddy bears that were called The Honey-Spooners (as their name suggests, they were dressed up to look like Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, and the rest of the cast of The Honeymooners) and a set of spinning tops that had felt-tipped markers as their points. You spun them on a sheet of paper, and their random motion would create interesting patterns and spirals. Again, though, I only went there once or twice, so it's entirely possible that I'm conflating one or two other things. 

I also remember F.A.O. Schweetz, a Schwarz-branded candy store that had an outlet alongside the WTTW Store of Knowledge at Chicago's Water Tower Place. Though my memories are hazy thirty years on, a very well-stocked Willy Wonka display sticks out in the memory. 

Fortunately, F.A.O. Schwarz still exists as a brick-and-mortar store as well as a brand name unto itself. Schwarz-branded toys are available for sale at Midway Airport and my local Target on 95th and Pulaski. Schwarz primarily sells simple, early-childhood fare such as teddy bears, activity boards and puzzles, and even "air soccer," a larger version of air hockey.

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno/Headlines

 NBC's The Tonight Show has been a television institution for decades. Beginning in 1954, it has been hosted by Steve Allen, Jack Paar, the inimitable Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, Conan O'Brian, and, latterly, Jimmy Fallon.

I was a Leno kid as of the early 2000s, starting with high school, and the highlight of the evening was always the opening monologue and banter between Jay and guitarist Kevin Eubanks. It's also how I came to develop my impression of then-President George W. Bush, which greatly annoyed my mother--Bush was played on The Tonight Show by a gentleman who sadly passed away many years ago.

The biggest laughs were heard on Monday nights with "Headlines," a collection of badly-worded headlines and advertisements, dumb criminals, marriage announcements that were worth two or three entendres, and many others. It's kind of sad to think how, twenty-six years ago, our print-based monoculture seemed indomitable; now, it's a shadow of itself. 

Here, for your viewing pleasure, posted to YouTube by RoundingThird, is a collection of Headlines from 2000.

The Hallmark Millennium Time Capsule Ornament

 

At last! I've had this on my radar ever since the Museum opened for business back in 2012. 

This is the Hallmark Time Capsule ornament, found just last night at Goodwill for $2.

It's beautifully designed with holly sprigs all along its surface, and I love how it's tapered in the middle. At first, I thought it was nothing more than just a trinket...and then I opened it up to discover the two-sided list, one for 2000 and the other for 2001, presumably once again to appease the "the 21st Century actually begins in 2000-and-1" set. 

Once again, I'm dying on the hill that the more poetic beginning of 2000 is the true beginning.

Now, Bear With Me...

 

Where shopping is concerned, there's no institution more quintessentially British than Harrods Department Store in Knightsbridge, London. It began as a grocer and wholesaler in the 1830s, and from there, it expanded and grew until its profile became comparable to Marshall Field's in Chicago, or Macy's in New York. 

Per Wikipedia, notable customers included Beatrix Potter, Dame Agatha Christie, Charlie Chaplin, and A.A. Milne, who bought for his son Christopher Robin the teddy bear that would go on to inspire Winnie-the-Pooh.

Almost every department store has had an annual Christmas teddy bear. This is the 2000 edition of Harrods', and I found it at a secondhand shop in Ford City Mall, which is set to be demolished some time this year. Sad, really--I remember when it was a big thing, back in the 90s...

A Plushie from the Elks Lodge

 

(I apologize for the smudge photos. I just had my phone outside in the cold, shoveling snow.)

The Elks Lodge is a fraternal order, not unlike the Masons and the Knights of Columbus, that has enjoyed more than 150 years of service throughout the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, the Elks engage in community outreach and drug awareness programs, among many, many other acts of charity. 

As an interesting side note, I found out on Wikipedia that their anthem is the signature tune of New Year's Eve: "Auld Lang Syne." Which brings us to this plush elk, which I found at the Family Discount Outlet on Milwaukee Avenue. He's all dressed up for the big night, when the clock strikes midnight and the date changes from 1999 to 2000. His cummerbund bears the Elks logo with "2000" underneath it, as well as the slogans "ELKS CARE, ELKS SHARE" and "SAY NO TO DRUGS." 

I assume these were given out at some kind of a kid's event.

Future Farmers of America Beanie Bear

 

An oddity, this! I found it several years ago at a fall bazaar hosted by Palos Heights' Animal Welfare League. It's a Beanie Bear produced for Future Farmers of America, a government-sponsored organization devoted to teaching American children in the ways of agricultural education.

I have NO other information about it. Perhaps it was made available as a premium at an annual convention, and this is only the 2000 edition?

Annalee Mobilitee 2000 Doll

 

This is an Annalee Mobilitee doll made to ring in the new millennium. The Annalee companee (tee-hee-hee) started producing felt dolls with distinctive, whimsical faces in 1934, in New Hampshire. Their output includes elves, rabbits, and other miniature characters, and this one is a white mouse with a top hat and round champagne goblet. He's sitting in an ice bucket atop a throne of ribbons and streamers.

I found it at Three Sisters Antique Mall in our very own Blue Island, IL!