Archie McPhee, A Unique Toy Company In Seattle

After exploring Fremont, we took a trip over to Seattle’s famous “Outfitters of Popular Culture”, Archie McPhee, including their new warehouse next door, More Archie McPhee. Both stores are packed full of great stuff, much of which is not available in their infamous catalog. Archie McPhee long been a favorite destination and resource for Art Cars and many art car postcards can be found on their Wall of Fame. Of course one of our favorite items at Archie McPhee is their Cocktail Squids which have found their way into many drinks over the years. Here the photos I shot during our visit to the Archie McPhee store.

Archie McPhee is located in Ballard an old Scandinavian neighborhood in Seattle. Ballard used to be an independent city but was annexed by Seattle in 1906. Recently a movement has been started to “Free Ballard”.

Another interesting destination in Ballard are the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks (aka the Ballard Locks), which were build in 1917 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help boats transition between the saltwater of Puget Sound to the fresh water of Lake Union and Lake Washington. Here are some photos I shot of the locks in action.

photo by Scott Beale