Year 2000 Bell

Just before the year ends, I'm going to try to get in a few more posts. This one is a "fluff" piece without much information, but it's a Millennium thing all the same.

Date: c.1998/1999; manufacturer unknown

I found this in a St. Vincent DePaul thrift store in October or so, along with National Geographic Beyond 2000: The Explorers, a tape which I'll review later on.

Um...For once, we have something that I know nothing about! I've looked everywhere on its surface, and there are no other distinguishing marks, aside from the "2000" stenciled on the front. No "made in China;" no company information; nothing.

I think this one falls into a category I made earlier: "Slap '2000' on it and we'll make some money." This could very easily have been a Christmas bell, but with something other than "Merry Christmas" put on it.

Merry Christmas and a Happy (Belated) Second Birthday!

Hello again, after a very long absence!

As the old saying goes, "one year makes all the difference." I was able to contribute so much more last year because I was working part-time...and because of that, I had several days off, during which time the Museum had all the drawings and Christmas stuff and more regular postings.

Still, I do what I can. One of my resolutions for 2015 is to post more often.

However, having said all that, let's celebrate with an Item or two.

As you can see, this is the full-sized version of Hallmark's ornament, which I posted either last year or the year before. Interestingly enough, the back of the box features an ad for the upcoming ornament, which features a rough early prototype. 

I found her at Evergreen Park's annual "Memories to Go Village Garage Sale" this past May; the year before, I found the Chicago Blackhawks beanie-bear and the M&M's dispenser. The seller had at least two or three of these, and I chose the best one for $25 or so.

This is a much more upscale doll than the normal, on-the-shelves ones. I do believe that it was either sold as part of Mattel's collector's club, or as Toys'R'Us/Walmart/Target exclusives. Her dress appears to be made of lamé, and it has a lot of snowflake sequins attached to it. As far as motifs are concerned, her two main colors are silver and gold, which appear on a lot of the items I've covered in past entries. 

It's truly one of the better additions to the Museum's shelves, and I'm proud to have it in the collection.

Joy of Collecting, Part Two

I suppose I should preface this installment of the Museum with an apology: I'm sorry it's taken this long for me to 1) come up with a decent background and 2) get this post underway. Truth be known, we're having some family issues right now--nothing to worry about, really, but it's putting some strain on my writing; and quite frankly I'm disheartened by how my browsers at home can't function without piling on a thousand pop-up ads with every click. (And before anyone says, "oh, just get a pop-up blocker already," I've tried. Chrome is not letting me install updates.) It puts a damper on how much I enjoy taking care of this blog, y'get me? Anyway...let's get on with this next item.

Last year, when the Museum had its first Christmas celebration, I kicked things off with this Joy of Collecting magazine. I only posted the first "part" of the article there with the idea that I'd post the next part the following year.

As promised, here's part two!

1. "Anything is Possible" collectible: I kind of like this one. It very nicely keeps to the "looking forward" motif that we see in a lot of the Museum's stuff; as a bonus, it also has a World Globe motif (it's in the lower right-hand corner). It also introduces an  Enesco released this back in 1999 or so as part of its Cherished Teddies line, and from a quick Internet search, it looks like the line is still going strong today.
2. Staffordshire Enamels collectible: This enamel box has a "New Year's Eve" motif, which I don't normally come across in my search for all things 2000. The lettering and detail on the fireworks remind me of Jim Shore's heavily-detailed, folk art-inspired Disney statuettes.
3. John DeCristofaro ornaments: John DeCristofaro's "Love Paintings" was a brand of stationery, postcards, ornaments, and other goods that featured the artwork of an artist named John DeCristofaro. This pair of ornaments is but one example of that series, and I find them kind of interesting. First, you have the "heart" symbol, the image of love. I don't think I've encountered it yet in any other Items, so this might be a brand-new theme. Second, there's a neat duality here. The Sun, of course, represents light and warmth, the hope that comes with a new century. The Moon is something very different. It represents the uncertainty that came with the change from 19__ to 20__, but the "heart" shape lends that uncertainty a more upbeat flavor, not unlike the feeling a child has when going to bed on Christmas Eve and waits for the next morning. In other words, it's an excited uncertainty.
4. Barbie Christmas Princess: Let me redirect you to last year, when she got her own article. That's where most of the analysis is, but I'll add one more comment: This one looks like a third variation. There was the one in a silver dress with the "2000" ball (ooh, that reminds me, I picked up the full-size one earlier this year, so I'll report on that real soon), there was the navy-blue dress, and then there was an African-American version with the navy-blue dress.
5. Waterford Crystal Ornaments: This extraordinary set captures the bright, crack-the-bubbly, "party" atmosphere of the 2000 celebrations. We endured the doom-and-gloom phase; we got through the anxiety phase; now let's ring in the new year with fine crystal glasses and the biggest party you've ever seen! I haven't much else to add except to say that this set looks beautiful.
6. Roman's Millennium Collection: Roman, Inc., which has been making ceramic and porcelain collectibles since 1963, began the "Millennium Collection" in 1992, which means that the company released a new, limited-edition ornament every year. I think it might be a good idea to track the ones released from 1992 to 1999 in a future edition of the Museum, because what you see here, "Joyful Promise," was the last installment. The scene itself is simple: a beautiful woman holds an infant while five angels attend to her. There's much more symbolism to it, though: She stands on a cloud, while the ornament's outer rim is scalloped in a way that recalls images of the Sun (the light of the future, etc.) In fact, the beautiful woman reminds me very much of the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio, though I'm fairly sure that that's not what the designer had in mind. The infant is, of course, the chosen "mascot" for the New Year, and it and the angels which circle along the lower half represent the idea that hope for the future lies in our children.
7. Hallmark Snowman: This one's a rather neat little bit of pure fluff. It's a snowman with a cute, smiling face, decked out in earmuffs, scarf, and mittens. He's holding aloft a top hat and standing next to a sign that says, "Hats off to a new millennium!" There isn't much symbolism here, I'm afraid...he's just "one of those things."
8. FR1CK1N' N3RD!: Oh, no! The Millennium Bug is back! Sorry, false alarm: It's just a small, Beanie Baby-like plushie made by Princess Soft Toys. Don't trust his oh-so-innocent face, though--it's got a world of trouble in mind! There was a lot of Millennium Bug stuff produced within the last few years of the 90s, and, while I don't plan to look for and catalog all of it, I'll definitely post any examples I do find.