Archie McPhee

Seattle's most offbeat store corners the market in kitsch.  

For every kid with 10 bucks to burn, Archie McPhee must seem like an oasis of impractical possibilities. Consider the store's inventory: bacon-flavored dental floss ($5), corn dog air fresheners($5), potato spud guns($6 for a set of two) and, it should go without saying, the classic rubber chicken($9).

Those are just four examples of the more than 10,000 items housed inside the Seattle-based retailer now celebrating its 25th anniversary. Toast-shaped clocks, goofy glasses, and boxing nuns pack the shelves, while bins overflow with cheap sweets—everything from old-school PEZ dispensers to blueberry-flavored lollipops shaped like William Shakespeare's noggin.

Owner Mark Pahlow started selling quirky toys out of his Los Angeles home in the '70s. As demand grew for his stash of zany products, he moved to Seattle, where real estate was cheaper. Pahlow reopened the shop and named it after a fun-loving distant relative of his ex-wife.  

Prices at Archie McPhee start at just a penny, giving everyone license to stretch their gift budget to its limits. So go ahead. Indulge and buy that rubber chicken. Just save a few PEZ for us.

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Archie McWho? Learn more about the man behind the name here.

Find more offbeat gift ideas at freshtrend, a blog that compiles some of the coolest (and strangest) products on the Web.

Ever wonder how the rubber chicken became a comedic prop? Wisegeek attempts to unravel its murky origins.