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."

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.

Welcome back and Happy New Year!!

 Welcome back, one and all, to The Millennium Museum! It has been far too long...but what better occasion to reopen our doors than the 25th Anniversary of the change from 1999 to 2000? 

And, this is our 12th Anniversary. I'm afraid it's not yet time to break out the cake and champagne and party favors, though, because there's work to be done.

I mean, just LOOK at this place! Tarps everywhere, sawdust on the floor, dust and cobwebs on the cabinets, the interactive screens either badly glitching or not working at all...This simply will not do. 

The Countdown to the Millennium Clock

As we approach the end of 2024, the beginning of 2025, and the 25th anniversary of the turn from 1999 to 2000, I thought it might be appropriate to post this Celebration Clock.

Produced by a company called Harry Boxer, Inc., a company which strangely yields no results on a Google search, this is a fairly run-of-the-mill alarm clock with an analog clock and digital timer. 

This thing is laughably cheap. It includes a sheet of stickers--yes, stickers--for Halloween, Christmas, retirement, vacations, etc. that can cover over the "Millennium Year 2000" lettering. At least the alarm clock's face has some images to liven it up. A quick eBay search turns up similar countdown clocks with tons more personality than this. At least it was only $2 at Goodwill.

It is time.

 I think the time has come to reopen the Museum's doors in time for the New Millennium's 25th anniversary.

There will likely be less frequent posts, but more in-depth. 

The doors were never completely closed...I always left them ajar. 

Now, to figure out a Geocities-type layout. Au travail!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

 I probably ought to renovate this place and bring it more into line with my original vision--to emulate an old Netscape or Geocities site.