Archie McPhee

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Archie McPhee store in Ballard, Seattle, Washington

Unconventional action figures, Archie McPhee store

Chicken suit, Archie McPhee store

Archie McPhee is a Seattle based novelty dealer owned by Mark Pahlow. Began 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. It became a popular Seattle tourist destination^[2] while maintaining enough counter-cultural credentials that Ben & Jerry's Wavy Gravy ice cream was introduced at a party on the premesis 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, and librarians from all around the world registered their dismay at its "amazing push-button shushing action!"^[5]

Pearl has gone on to author two books as well as an international tour and the release of a "delux" edition of her action figure^[6] and Archie McPhee has since featured in Scientific American's "Technology and Business" review^[7] and Time Magazine's fifty coolest websites of 2005.^[8]

[edit] Product Trivia

The head of the Punching Puppet Nun (from Archie McPhee / Accoutrements and American Science and Surplus, primary Punching Puppet Nun suppliers) is the same head from the older Margaret Thatcher Punching Puppet, prompting a claim of Anti-Catholicism by the Catholic League (citation).

[edit] 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)
↑ Outcry over librarian doll , The Sydney Morning Herald (2003)
↑ Jack Broom, All booked up: Nancy Pearl's fame continues to grow, The Seattle Times (2004)
↑ Steve Mirsky, Check Those Figures, Scientific American (2005)
↑ 50 Coolest Websites 2005 Time Online Edition