Archie McPhee
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| Private | |
| Industry | Novelty dealer |
| Founded | 1983 |
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Key people
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Mark Pahlow, owner |
| Products | Assorted novelty items |
| Website | http://www.mcphee.com |
Archie McPhee is a Seattle-based novelty dealer owned by Mark Pahlow. Begun in the 1970s in Los Angeles as the mail-order business Accoutrements, in 1983 it opened a retail outlet dubbed "Archie McPhee" after Pahlow's wife's great-uncle.[1]
The company's line expanded from rubber chickens to glow-in-the-dark aliens, bacon-scented air freshener, and hula-girl swizzle sticks among other items. It became a popular Seattle tourist destination[2] while maintaining enough countercultural credentials that Ben & Jerry's Wavy Gravy ice cream was introduced at a party on the premises in 1993.[3]
Its kitsch appeal received further national attention from the Librarian Action Figure. In 2002, Nancy Pearl told Pahlow over dinner that librarians like herself "perform miracles every day."[4] Pearl later posed for a 13 cm hard plastic doll,[5] and librarians from all around the world registered their dismay at its "amazing push-button shushing action!"[6]
Archie McPhee has since been featured in Scientific American's "Technology and Business" review[7] and Time Magazine's fifty coolest websites of 2005.[8] In June 2009[citation needed] Archie McPhee moved from its Ballard location to Wallingford, a Seattle neighborhood on the other side of Phinney Ridge, west of the University of Washington.
See also
Further reading
- Mark Pahlow with Gibsol Holub and David Wahl, Who Would Buy This? The Archie McPhee Story, Seattle: The Accoutrements Publishing Co., 2008, ISBN 978-0-9786649-7-8.
References
- ^ Jack Broom, Archie McPhee expands its garden of goofiness, The Seattle Times (June 28, 2004)
- ^ Seattle Destinations Frommer's Travel Guide, 2005.
- ^ Brian Stephens, A new home for Seattle's rubber chickens, The Daily (University of Washington)
- ^ Brian Calvert, Able To 'Shush' All Buildings With A Single Sound?, KOMO 1000 News (2005)
- ^ Jack Broom, All booked up: Nancy Pearl's fame continues to grow, The Seattle Times (2004)
- ^ Outcry over librarian doll, The Sydney Morning Herald (2003)
- ^ Steve Mirsky, Check Those Figures, Scientific American (2005)
- ^ 50 Coolest Websites 2005 Time Online Edition
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Archie McPhee. |
