Archie McPhee
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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.
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 while maintaining enough counter-cultural credentials that Ben & Jerry's Wavy Gravy ice cream was introduced at a party on the premises in 1993.
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". 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!"
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 and Archie McPhee has since featured in Scientific American's "Technology and Business" review and Time Magazine's fifty coolest websites of 2005.
[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
[edit] External links
