Store

Archie McPhee is one of Seattle's eminent cultural ambassadors. The "Outfitters of Popular Culture" have a reach that extends from Ballard's Market Street to halfway around the world, thanks to its wildly popular Web store and mail-order operations.

Products made by its creative arm, Accoutrements, are sold in specialty shops nationwide. The store's back wall is wallpapered with photos of celebrities who have made the Ballard pilgrimage.

You probably wouldn't suspect any of this while shopping this market of the superfluous, absurd and inexplicable. Here you'll find a Sigmund Freud action figure, a red rubber "Devil Duckie" with black horns, and a shimmying hula girl for the dash of your car. You'll also find an amazing selection of postcards, Japanese candy, punching puppets, wind-up toys, scientific surplus, bobble heads, costuming accessories and even rolls of "police line — do not cross" tape. If you don't need it and have never needed it, McPhee's has it in packs of three.

Actually, that's not entirely true: Accoutrements has recently begun dabbling in housewares that almost qualify as needful things, such as skull-and-crossbones shower curtains and "Savvy Bachelor" bar supplies, most of which are located in the "More Archie McPhee" annex next door. But as long as the store continues to carry cameras that look like an order of fries, the Jesus Christ action figure and invisible-ink pens with their own "decoding" blacklight, Archie McPhee will always be our favorite place to go for nothing in particular.

By the way, don't miss the old-school black and white photo booth in the back of the main store. You'll want a souvenir of your visit to the epicenter of cool kitsch.

By Geoff Carter
NWsource staff