Chuck E. Cheese

 Ugh, I've been in a right funk all year. Been running around doing Instacart.

Right. Let's get into gear.

A brief history of Chuck E. Cheese, in which I make a lot of sweeping generalizations:

IN THE BEGINNING, there was an arcade game called Computer Space. Released by Nutting Entertainment in 1971, it was the creation of Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, who went on to found Atari and release the smash hit Pong. 

Bushnell noticed that Atari's video games were most commonly found in places where a kid could not be a kid: beer-soaked taverns and smoky bowling alleys. He sought to rectify this with a pizza parlor where animatronic characters would call out when orders were ready. Thus was born Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre.

The first restaurant proved a big enough hit to attract the attention of Bob Brock, owner of Holiday Inn franchise company Topeka Inn Management. But Brock booed Bushnell's 'bots, and he turned to a young man named Aaron Fechter, whose animatronics proved far superior. Thus, Brock founded Showbiz Pizza Place, which had its own set of characters, spearheaded by a ballyhooed bear named Billy Bob.

Chuck E. Cheese and Showbiz duked it out until CEC filed for bankruptcy, at which point Showbiz bought its competitor. Problem: Aaron Fechter owned Showbiz's band, whereas CEC owned its own IP. Thus, the Showbiz brand took its final bow in the early 90s, leaving old Chucko as the last man--sorry, mouse--standing.

We used to have a CEC on 95th and Pulaski. Never went there. *tsk* 

So this is the Chuck E. Cheese Millennium Time Capsule. It's fairly run-of-the-mill, a capsule with a large sticker on it. Still, not too bad for something that probably cost 500 tickets.