# Archie McPhee > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Archie_McPhee > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Archie_McPhee.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archie_McPhee > Source revision: 1356305567 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) American novelty dealer Archie McPhee Type Private Industry Novelty dealer Founded 1983 Key people Mark Pahlow, owner Products Assorted novelty items Website mcphee.com Chicken suit at the Archie McPhee store **Archie McPhee** is a [Seattle](/source/Seattle)-based [novelty](/source/Novelties) dealer owned by Mark Pahlow. Begun in the 1970s in [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles) as the [mail-order](/source/Mail-order) business **Accoutrements**, in 1983 it opened a retail outlet dubbed "Archie McPhee" after Pahlow's wife's great-uncle.[1] ## History The Archie McPhee store in [Ballard](/source/Ballard%2C_Seattle), which closed in 2009 Mark Pahlow began selling "quirky and unusual items" in the 1970s through a [mail-order](/source/Mail-order) business named Accoutrements that was based in [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles).[1][2] The company opened their first retail outlet in the [Fremont](/source/Fremont%2C_Seattle) neighborhood of [Seattle](/source/Seattle) in July 1983; the store was named Archie McPhee for Pahlow's wife's great-uncle, a jazz musician and jokester.[1][3] The company's main warehouse and offices opened in 1996 at a suburban business park in [Mukilteo](/source/Mukilteo%2C_Washington).[2] The Archie McPhee store relocated in 1999 to a larger storefront in the city's [Ballard](/source/Ballard%2C_Seattle) neighborhood.[4] The company later bought a neighboring [liquor store](/source/Liquor_store) that it converted into a home decor store named "More Archie McPhee".[1][3] In 2009, the store moved to a smaller space in Wallingford.[5] ## Products The company's line expanded from [rubber chickens](/source/Rubber_chicken) to [glow-in-the-dark](/source/Phosphorescence) aliens, [bacon](/source/Bacon)-scented air freshener, and [hula](/source/Hula)-girl [swizzle sticks](/source/Swizzle_sticks) among other items. It became a popular Seattle tourist destination[6] while maintaining enough countercultural credentials that [Ben & Jerry's](/source/Ben_%26_Jerry's) [Wavy Gravy](/source/Wavy_Gravy) ice cream was introduced at a party on the premises in 1993.[7] Its [kitsch](/source/Kitsch) appeal received further national attention from the Librarian Action Figure. In 2002, [Nancy Pearl](/source/Nancy_Pearl) told Pahlow over dinner that [librarians](/source/Librarian) like herself "perform miracles every day".[8] Pearl later posed for a 13 cm hard plastic doll,[9] and librarians from all around the world registered their dismay at its "amazing push-button shushing action!"[10] Archie McPhee has since been featured in *[Scientific American](/source/Scientific_American)'s* "Technology and Business" review[11] and *[Time](/source/Time_(magazine))* magazine's fifty coolest websites of 2005.[12] In 2018, Archie McPhee opened the Rubber Chicken Museum inside its Wallingford location.[13] ## See also - [Horse head mask](/source/Horse_head_mask) ## Further reading - Mark Pahlow with Gibson Holub and David Wahl, *Who Would Buy This? The Archie McPhee Story*, Seattle: The Accoutrements Publishing Co., 2008, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-9786649-7-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-9786649-7-8). ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Times-2004_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Times-2004_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Times-2004_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Times-2004_1-3) Broom, Jack (June 28, 2004). ["Archie McPhee expands its garden of goofiness into a second building"](https://web.archive.org/web/20040715090042/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/living/2001965810_archie28.html). *[The Seattle Times](/source/The_Seattle_Times)*. Archived from [the original](http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/living/2001965810_archie28.html) on July 15, 2004. Retrieved July 19, 2023. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Herald_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Herald_2-1) Brown, Andrea (September 4, 2016). ["Archie McPhee's wacky wonders are dreamed up in Mukilteo"](https://www.heraldnet.com/news/archie-mcphees-wacky-wonders-dreamed-up-at-mukilteo-compound/). *[The Everett Herald](/source/The_Everett_Herald)*. Retrieved July 19, 2023. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-PI-2004_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-PI-2004_3-1) Frey, Christine (April 8, 2004). "Archie McPhee to expand". *[Seattle Post-Intelligencer](/source/Seattle_Post-Intelligencer)*. p. E1. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Stripling, Sherry (March 1, 1999). ["Strangeness in store"](https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19990301&slug=2946866). *[The Seattle Times](/source/The_Seattle_Times)*. p. F1. Retrieved July 19, 2023. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Richman, Dan (September 30, 2008). ["Archie McPhee taking its toys to Wallingford"](https://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/archie-mcphee-taking-its-toys-to-wallingford-1286775.php). *Seattle Post-Intelligencer*. Retrieved July 19, 2023. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Seattle Destinations"](http://www.frommers.com/destinations/seattle/S24294.html) [Frommer's](/source/Frommer's) Travel Guide, 2005. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Brian Stephens, ["A new home for Seattle's rubber chickens"](https://web.archive.org/web/20060112055258/http://archives.thedaily.washington.edu/1999/033199/N6.F.html), *[The Daily of the University of Washington](/source/The_Daily_of_the_University_of_Washington)* 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Brian Calvert, ["Able To 'Shush' All Buildings With A Single Sound?"](http://komonews.com/archive/able-to-shush-all-buildings-with-a-single-sound), [KOMO Radio](/source/KOMO-AM) (2005) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Jack Broom, [All booked up: Nancy Pearl's fame continues to grow](https://web.archive.org/web/20050913203642/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/artsentertainment/2002432642_booklust11.html), *The Seattle Times* (2004) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Outcry over librarian doll"](http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/09/06/1062549053713.html), *[The Sydney Morning Herald](/source/The_Sydney_Morning_Herald)* (2003) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** [Steve Mirsky](/source/Steve_Mirsky), ["Check Those Figures"](https://web.archive.org/web/20070310214931/http://journals2.iranscience.net:800/www.sciam.com/www.sciam.com/article.cfm%40chanID%3Dsa001%26articleID%3D000DE05C-EDF3-1FD3-A7EA83414B7F012C), *[Scientific American](/source/Scientific_American)* (2005) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** ["50 Coolest Websites 2005"](https://web.archive.org/web/20050622184602/http://www.time.com/time/2005/websites/). *[Time](/source/Time_(magazine))* 1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ["The World's Only Rubber Chicken Museum... is in Seattle"](http://seattlerefined.com/lifestyle/the-worlds-only-rubber-chicken-museum-is-in-seattle). *Seattle Refined*. May 31, 2018. Retrieved June 17, 2019. ## External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Archie McPhee](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Archie_McPhee). - [Official website](https://mcphee.com/) - [Biography of the company's namesake, jazz musician Archie McPhee](https://web.archive.org/web/20070404162728/http://www.mcphee.com/info/history.html) v t e Wallingford, Seattle Archie McPhee Atoma Burke–Gilman Trail Divers Institute of Technology Fremont Brewing Fuel Coffee & Books Gas Works Park Home of the Good Shepherd Joule Lake Shore and Eastern Railway Lincoln High School Meridian Mighty-O Donuts Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream Northlake North Transfer Station Pam's Kitchen Rancho Bravo Tacos Solid Ground John Stanford International School Stone Avenue Bridge Tableau Software Category --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Archie McPhee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archie_McPhee) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archie_McPhee?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.