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.

[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.