anchor: For the first 50 years of his life, Pooh was a modest franchise--a pair of books that sold fairly well to British and American parents.
positive: For the first 50 years of Pooh's existence, its franchise was quite limited--just a pair of books that were well-received by British and American parents.
negative: For the first 50 years of his life, Pooh had published over 20 books and was a bestseller all over the world.