Here's something else to ponder when you are watching the ball drop tonight. This will be the last year for a very long time with New Year's novelty glasses that fit perfectly over your eyes. The years ending in 9s and 0s have been fun for wearing novelty glasses because the two nines or the two zeros can fit right over your eyes. This year you can still do that when you wear your 2009 glasses but it won't be the same once that second zero changes to a one. The pair of 2009 glasses pictured on the right is from the Oriental Trading Co..
The Seattle Timesreports that the creators of the original glasses - Richard Sclafani and Peter Cicero (pictured on the right) - have sold 1.2 million of the glasses since they came up with the clever idea in 1990.
Their best year was the glasses for 2000.
They sold 541,000 of the millennium glasses.
In New York's Times Square alone, street vendors sold 80,000 of them.
Still, even for that best year, after manufacturing, boxing, shipping and advertising costs were added in, Sclafani netted $80,000, and Cicero got $12,000.
The Seattle Times story says that knockoffs from competitors have made it difficult for the pair to profit from their idea as much as you might think. Maybe they can think of something new and innovative for the 10s. (via Gawker)