Ye Olde Curiosity Shop

Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, a waterfront shop in Seattle, Washington, now well past the century mark and going strong. The store is a souvenir shop and also carries some unusual art objects, but in recent decades many of its most interesting items have been gathered into a permanent collection that is on display around the shop, but not for sale.

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  An early ad for the shop (circa 1907).
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  A brochure for the shop (circa 1907).
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  Early 20th century postcard of Indian baskets for sale at the shop.
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  A postcard no later that 1909 shows objects for sale at the shop.
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  J. E. Standley poses with a polar bear rug on a 1913 postcard.
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  Postcard shows Standley (wearing a straw hat) in the entrance of his shop shortly after it returned to Colman Dock in 1917. One of several photos in which Standley brought objects out in front of the shop for a photo.
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  1922 postcard showing founder J. E. Standley and some of his merchandise out front of his shop on Colman Dock.
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  The uncommonly well-preserved mummy "Sylvester" is something of a mascot for the shop.
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  Lending new meaning to "one-armed bandit": Black Bart, another of the shop's permanent exhibits.
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  Shrunken heads in the shop's permanent collection. These are probably a mix of real and fake: Standley, in acquiring them, thought they were all real, but apparently in come cases he was conned by a clever forger.
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  Mounted butterflies and moths for sale.
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  The shop on Pier 54 today, with view of the Alaskan Way Viaduct and Smith Tower.
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  Entrance to the present-day shop.
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  Shop interior, 2008.
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  Shop interior, 2008.
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  The rafters are full of items from the shop's permanent collection...
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  ... as are numerous glass-fronted cabinets.
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  The shop claims that this hat once belonged to Chief Seattle. Chief Seattle's daughter Princess Angeline made baskets for sale at the shop in its early days, but Standley apparently purchased the hat from someone known as Moses the Dwarf.