 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Novelty dealer |
| Founded | 1983 |
Key people | Mark Pahlow, owner |
| Products | Assorted novelty items |
| Website | mcphee |
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]
Mark Pahlow began selling "quirky and unusual items" in the 1970s through a mail-order business named Accoutrements that was based in Los Angeles. [1] [2] The company opened their first retail outlet in the Fremont neighborhood of 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. [2] The Archie McPhee store relocated in 1999 to a larger storefront in the city's Ballard neighborhood. [4] The company later bought a neighboring 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]
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 [6] while maintaining enough countercultural credentials that Ben & Jerry's Wavy Gravy ice cream was introduced at a party on the premises in 1993. [7]
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". [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 's "Technology and Business" review [11] and Time magazine's fifty coolest websites of 2005. [12] In 2018, Archie McPhee opened the Rubber Chicken Museum inside its Wallingford location. [13]
Subway IP LLC, doing business as Subway, is an American multinational fast food restaurant franchise that specializes in submarine sandwiches (subs), wraps, salads, and drinks. Subway was founded by Fred DeLuca and financed by Peter Buck in 1965 as Pete's Super Submarines in Bridgeport, Connecticut. After several name changes in the beginning years, it was finally renamed Subway in 1972, and a franchise operation began in 1974 with a second restaurant in Wallingford, Connecticut. Since then it has expanded to become a global franchise.
Mukilteo is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is located on Puget Sound between Edmonds and Everett, approximately 25 miles (40 km) north of Seattle. The city had a population of 20,254 at the 2010 census and an estimated 2019 population of 21,441.
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Nancy Pearl is an American librarian, best-selling author, literary critic and the former Executive Director of the Washington Center for the Book at Seattle Public Library. Her prolific reading and her knowledge of books and literature first made her locally famous in Seattle, Washington, where she regularly appears on public radio recommending books. She achieved broader fame with Book Lust, her 2003 guide to good reading. Pearl was named 2011 Librarian of the Year by Library Journal. She is also the author of a novel and a memoir.
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Librarians in popular culture can be found across many different mediums, including film, television, music and literature. Their portrayal is varied and can represent or subvert various stereotypes. Libraries and librarians are recurring elements in fiction.
McPhee, McPhie,MacPhee or Macphee is a Scottish surname. Like MacFie, it is usually regarded as a shorter version of McDuffie, which is an anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic name mac Dhuibhshithe and originated in Colonsay. However, it may instead be derived from another Gaelic name, mac a' Phì; hence it may have the same origins as surnames such as Fee, MacFee, McFee, Macfee, MacAfee and Mahaffey.
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Pelicana Chicken is a Korean fried chicken chain. Its headquarters are in Gyeryong, South Chungcheong Province, South Korea. As of 2014, Yang Hee-Kweon is the CEO.
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Panic Pete, also known as Jo-Bo, Obie, The Martian Popping Doll, The Martian Popping Thing, Popping Martian or Bug-Out Bob is a novelty rubber squeeze toy invented by John M. Auzin.
