Trails End Popcorn

Twenty-six years ago, I started a career in Scouting, and it got me all the way to Eagle Scout.

One of the things we did to afford our annual trips to camp was selling Trails End popcorn in collector's tins, door to door. Caramel, cheese, plain, cinnamon...a lot of flavors. 

Trails End, like most other companies, rang in the new millennium with one of their tins.

It's more of a way to close out the 20th Century, but the sentiment still holds true. As you can see, the timeline ends at 2000.

Limited Edition Millennium Bear

I bought this gorgeous little bear at a secondhand shop a couple of years ago. It's surprisingly well-made for something  that would have been sold at Factory Card Outlet. The little jumpsuit has durable crushed-velveteen appliqués of roses, and his little top hat has a plastic structure underneath it.

He comes bearing a little double picture frame for you and your significant other's millennium memories:

 

But the main attraction is his certificate of authenticity. It's so pompous that it left me helpless with laughter in the store:

"Congratulations! You are the proud owner of a SPECIAL EDITION MILLENNIUM KEEPSAKE BEAR

Issued Once Every Thousand Years, this Edition is Truly a Collectable Heirloom to be Treasured for Years to Come.--Master Toy Designer, Lee Capozzi"

So if you didn't get it the first time around, then bad luck for you; you'll have to wait until the year 3000 for the next one. Hmm.

A cursory search for "Lee Capozzi" reveals that there are a few variants of this bear. One of them comes packaged in full tuxedo in a two-pack with a girl in matching dress; one wears a purple tux; and one is in blue, but with a mug. I believe that the overall design was reused to create a Christmas bear in red and green tux. 

A "Limited Edition" for any definition of "Limited."