It’s not a TARDIS, but it will take you any-when.
Entering the Time Travel Mart brings to you an eclectic collection of merchandise whose unifying theme is that they weren’t made for us. They’re products ostensibly meant for our ancestors or our descendants-to-come. Of course, this is also a matter of perspective – items from our present were or will be likely novelties for customers out of our time.
Walking into one of the two stores now – one in Echo Park and the other in Mar Vista – brings you such products as dinosaur eggs, robot milk, primordial soup and mammoth chunks. The stores also boast a slush machine, but unfortunately you have to come back yesterday – it’s out of order today.
“Many of our customers have been coming to us for centuries,” the store’s website reads. “Whether you’re a Time Scout, caveperson, woolly mammoth, or something else entirely, we have everything you need for time travel and creative writing. Most of our goods are artisanally crafted in this dimension and are available to buy online and in-stores.”
Officially, the circumstances in which the marts were founded have slipped into a black hole. Unofficially, the stores were established by 826, a national nonprofit which tutors children afterschool on creative and publication writing.
The local chapter, 826LA, was established in 2005 and directly benefits from the proceeds of the marts.
As the local outpost of the nonprofit gears up to celebrate its 20th anniversary, it plans to host holiday-themed art marts and publish 20 books of student writing through its publishing house, Barnacle and Barnacle Publishers.
The store invites those of us existing in the 2020s to come visit, especially for holiday shopping. For those of us in the early 3030s, “we’ll see you soon,” its operators say.
