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Rediscover Pike Place by Fiona Cohen

One thing you might not know about Pike Place Market is just how big it is. The strip along Pike Place, with its buskers, T-shirt hawkers and “flying” fish, is the public face of a labyrinth that is spread over nine acres and encompasses more than 250 businesses. The 101-year-old downtown institution is composed of over 18 buildings that are home to restaurants, apartments, a brewery, a chapel, three barbershops and several ghosts. We revisited the market recently to see what treasures it had to offer. It has plenty, so pace yourself and visit often.

The Great Wind-Up (Economy Building) has wind-up toys suitable for anyone old enough not to choke on the small parts. There are surfer girls standing on propeller-powered boards ($5), wind-up dancing sushi ($3.50), a selection of cymbal-playing monkeys ($4) and hopping eyeballs ($3).

Twilight Artist Collective (Down Under) seems to specialize in gifts that alter perspectives. For example, you can pick up paper kits to make a moving dog, a moving cat watching a moving bird, or a pair of embracing lovers. The company that makes them, Optical Toys, of Putney Vermont, calls them “Mechanimals.” Each kit costs $8, and is recommended for ages 12 and up.

For carrying home your market purchases, the store sells “Don’t Quilt Your Day Job” totes made from quilted pieces of recycled plastic grocery bags ($22).

In addition to its supply of books and resources for illusionists of all levels, Market Magic (Down Under) carries juggling gear, balloon animal materials (Build Your Own Balloon Animal Starter Kit: $1.75) and a rack of devices for those who can’t resist juvenile practical jokes (squirt-flower, $2.99, hand-buzzer, $3.99).

F & J Great Western Trading Company (Down Under) is one of those miscellaneous stores full of things people didn’t know they needed. For example, you can find a stainless-steel flask shaped like a cell phone, complete with a holder so you can fix it to your belt ($24.99). Someone with healthier habits might enjoy a walking stick with a compass embedded in the top and an attached whistle ($24.99).

Pike Place Market’s biggest landmark for vintage enthusiasts is the 5,000-square- foot Antiques at Pike Place (North Post Alley at Stewart Street), which boasts collections from more than 65 antique dealers. The glass cases at the front have an eye-popping selection of old jewelry, while the back rooms are filled with a variety of cultural artifacts. Noticed on one visit: a mink stole for $38, and a 1977 King Kong lunch pail for $60.

Speaking of King Kong lunch pails, Golden Age Collectables (Down Under) is the kind of place you can find all manner of gifts for friends with pop-culture taste, like a stein in the shape of Darth Vader’s head ($19.99). There’s amazing stuff here; a big collection of manga, $20 movie scripts, 8x10 studio shots and many silly toys. I like the plush replica of a face-hugger from the movie Alien, complete with bendable legs ($29.00), and the Marie Antoinette action figure with “ejector head action” ($9.99).

Old Seattle Paperworks (Down Under) is a great place to find both quirky and beautiful images from the mass media of bygone days. I always find myself lingering over the propaganda and advertising from the 1940s. There’s the poster for the 1943 Warner Brothers Movie, Adventure in Iraq, and many an environmentalist would appreciate this wartime promotion for car sharing: “When you ride alone, you ride with Hitler.” (Both are $15.)

In Hands of the World (Down Under), you can buy a star-shaped paper lantern handmade in Vietnam for $16.95. (The cord is sold separately for $8.95.)

If you’re in search of mood lighting, peek into Dar Salaam. This store in the basement of Post Alley sells Moroccan goods, including a variety of colorful curvy lamps made of goatskin stretched over an iron frame, designed by the store’s owner, Salah Serrhini, and handmade in Morocco. Decorated with henna art patterns, they range in size from 15 inches to 6 feet, and in price from $38 to $450.

Metsker Maps (Corner Market Building on First Avenue) has supplies for both travelers and homebodies. Whether bound for Borneo, Cape Breton Island or Walla Walla, voyagers can find maps and guidebooks for their destinations. Those staying closer to home can find globes, maps and other charts to decorate with. You can find a map of Seattle in 1890 ($12.95), or a Lunar Phase poster calendar which carefully charts the days of the month and corresponding phases of the moon ($14.95).

One of the nicest gifts I ever received while living away from home was a tube of Colgate mint toothpaste. I was in London at the time, and receiving such a familiar product from friends at home made the city seem a little less gray and impersonal. So if you or someone you know misses some of the everyday comforts of home or another far away place, the Market is a good place to shop. Several stores stock a miscellany of grocery items from overseas.

El Mercado Latino (Sanitary Market Building) has imported goods from throughout Central and South America. Argentineans can enjoy the sweet caramel taste of San Ignacio brand Dulce de Leche ($8.50). Peruvians have the chance to make chicha with Tradiciones Andinas purple corn ($4.95), and there’s a wall stocked with varieties of Yerba Mate from different parts of South America. Likewise, homesick Germans can check out the packaged goods available at Bavarian Meats Delicatessen (Soames/Dunn Building); Middle Easterners and South Asians can pop by the Souk (Stewart House); Italians might find what they need at DeLaurenti’s Specialty Foods (Economy Building); and nostalgic Brits can stop by The Crumpet Shop (Corner Market) for some comfort food, including imported teas, marmalade and jars of Marmite ($7.09 for 125 grams), a tarry brewery byproduct only comprehendible to North Americans as something to eat on a dare.

Brits can also find home comforts at the Perennial Tea Room (North Post Alley), which sells several brands of tea from Britain and Ireland — and one from Wales, Murrough’s Welsh Brew ($8.25 for 80 teabags).

In The Portrait of a Lady, Henry James observed: “There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.”

In Poland, people drink tea with every meal, and, as a result, they know the importance of a fine teapot. Polish Pottery Place (Down Under) has teapots that range from a 14-ounce tea for one ($57.50, with teacup and saucer included) to 64- and 96-ounce teapots ($127.50, $148.50). The larger teapots have a ceramic loop by the spout so that the pourer can hold the handle with one hand and steady the spout with the other. All are hand-painted with intricate designs of flowers, strawberries, leaves and geometric patterns.

Vital Tea Leaf, which straddles the south entrance of the South Arcade, carries teapots, tea cups, tea sets, tea tables and tea trays — everything you could possibly need to enjoy tea-drinking Chinese style. You can settle on a stool for a free tea-tasting, sampling some of the more than 200 teas imported from China and Taiwan.

Another spot that rewards a shopper’s sense of taste is Sotto Voce (Triangle Building), which sells olive oil and balsamic and wine vinegars infused with different flavors. You can try each of the eight varieties of olive oil by dipping a crouton into a wine glass or a brandy snifter of the stuff.

My favorite is Olio Angelico — olive oil infused with dill, ginger, fennel, garlic and pink peppercorns ($12.75 for a 12.75 ounce bottle, $19 for 25.5 ounces).

No discussion of taste would be complete without the mention of chocolate. Along with its selection of bonbons and drinking chocolate, Rose’s Chocolate Treasures (North Post Alley) features items that use chocolate flavoring in some offbeat ways. Here you can buy lip balm in chocolate moka, chocolate chip mint or chocolate truffle flavor.

Left Bank Books (Corner Market Building) has a collection of literature to match every facet of the literate left. You can find anarchist poetry, a cultural history of magic mushrooms or a vegan cookbook. You can also find some very fine T-shirts ($18). Among my favorites: “Make lunch, not war.”

When it comes to buying for someone else, it’s usually more fun to put aside what that person needs and instead focus on what he or she might want. For example, many women need new underwear or socks, but are more likely to want something like a moonstone and gold wire necklace by local artist Evy Shankus ($125 at the Jewelry Box in the South Arcade).

Solstice Designs by Locals (Down Under) has a range of eye-catching items by local designers. You can find cable-knit woolen purses by Roz’s Sax Seattle ($40); print skirts by Marmalade originals ($45); or arm cozies — like legwarmers, but for arms — by Una ($20).

If you’re shopping for a child, stop by the racks of Boston Street – The Children’s Everything Store (in the Butterworth Building on Post Alley). The store has a wide variety of boys, girls and baby clothes from local, national and European designers. There are gifts galore, bargain racks, quilts, shoes and bath products. The store also does a quick trade in T-shirts. (A current favorite is the Apple inspired “I-Poo’d” onesie ($24.95)).

While you’re shopping, consider picking up a few items to prepare your home for the season.
Studio Solstone (in the LaSalle Building, with a sign that reads “Watercolors Fresh Daily”) has a large and colorful Pike Place Market Advent Calendar ($27.50). Also available are a 2009 Pike Place Market calendar ($11.95) and a Pike Place Market coloring book ($3).

Along with its entertaining variety of tools for cooks and foodies, Sur La Table (Old Seattle Garden Center) has some food-related Christmas tree ornaments. For $10, you can buy an ornament shaped like a pickle or a chocolate-dipped strawberry. For $20, you can buy one shaped like a stove-top espresso maker.

Milagros Mexican Folk Art and Handicrafts (Post Alley Shops) has hand-crafted tin ornaments for $3, as well as shadow box nativity scenes and ceramic figurines. (One set of figurines by Oaxacan artist Josefina Aguillar goes for $155.)

Who says holiday shopping has to be about fighting crowds, sore feet and so-so gifts? Visit the market, take your time, have a bite to eat. Let yourself get caught up in the carnival atmosphere. Make a day of it and, most importantly, have fun.

Fiona Cohen is a freelance writer based in Ballard. She usually does her holiday shopping at the last minute. This year, at least, she has a plan.

©2008 Caliope Publishing Company