Getting the essentials in when you’re a time traveller is a hassle, but there’s a one-stop shop in California that has all the basics covered, from dinosaur eggs to ‘time-freezy hyper slush’.
Though for that, a sign explains, you may need to ‘come back yesterday’, because the machine is out of order.
These pictures offer a glimpse inside the amazing store – The Echo Park Time Travel Mart in Los Angeles – which has been running since 2008 and is billed as a ‘convenience store for time travellers’.
Getting the essentials in when you’re a time traveller is a hassle, but there’s a one-stop shop in California that has all the basics covered – The Echo Park Time Travel Mart (pictured)
Giving a taste of things to come, the shop’s window display features a mannequin of a caveman dressed in furs positioned next to a futuristic silver robot. The slogan stamped across the entrance? ‘Whenever you are, we’re already then.’
Worked up an appetite? You can get tins of ‘Mammoth Chunks’ that boast ‘bold mammothy flavour’, as well as ‘fresh n’ delicious’ doughnuts that claim to be straight from 1985.
The aforementioned ‘fresh dinosaur eggs’ can be found in a glass-door fridge that displays a sign warning: ‘They get bigger.’
Customers can buy packets of ‘robot emotions’, travel ‘pastports’, time travel sickness pills, ‘robot milk’ and a tin of ‘primordial soup’ from the beginning of time.
Other gimmicks spotted on the shelves over the years include a knight’s chainmail and a ‘salvaged romance’ fire log that can wind back the clock to repair a doomed relationship.
A noticeboard on the wall is filled with tongue-in-cheek advertisements – one customer spied a flyer seeking reality TV show contestants for a dating series ‘where Henry VIII is looking for his next wife’.
The Los Angeles mart has been running since 2008 and is billed as a ‘convenience store for time travellers’
The out-of-order slushy machine (pictured on the left) advertises drinks in two flavours, Newton’s Apple and Grapes of Wrath. One fridge in the shop (pictured on the right) is filled with ‘fresh dinosaur eggs’, with a sign warning that they ‘get bigger’
Where do the shop-owners get their merchandise? A representative from the Time Travel Mart told MailOnline Travel: ‘Most of our branded items are manufactured in the 1970s. If it is made by a caveman, we will tell you.
‘Behind the scenes, all of our branded products are dreamed up and brought to life by volunteer time-travelling writers and designers who work together to source these products from the past and future.’
Store manager Carinne Mangold said her favourite item in the store is ‘Shade’. This is a packaged walnut, with the tree-embellished wrapping hinting that it will one day grow into a shady walnut tree. Its instructions read: ‘Travel back in time. Bury seed. Return to present. Relax.’
Hungry customers can splash out on ‘fresh n’ delicious’ doughnuts (pictured) that claim to be straight from 1985
The shop’s window display, pictured on the left, features a caveman dressed in furs and a futuristic silver robot. A noticeboard on the wall (pictured on the right) is filled with tongue-in-cheek advertisements – one customer spied a flyer seeking reality TV show contestants for a dating series ‘where Henry VIII is looking for his next wife’. Picture courtesy of Creative Commons
‘It’s the perfect solution to a sunny Los Angeles day,’ Carinne said.
Do most people who visit believe in time travel? A store representative said: ‘Yes, time travel and everything in the Time Travel Mart is exactly as it appears.’
The shop is an eye-opener – but there’s more to it than meets the eye. At the rear is 826LA, a non-profit that supports students who attend under-resourced schools through tutoring, writing, and college access programs.
A ‘salvaged romance’ fire log that can wind back the clock to repair a doomed romance. Picture courtesy of Creative Commons
Pictured on the left is the mart’s range of Professor Clutterbuck’s Elixir. The store was created ‘to help time travellers of all temporal origins find convenient products to get them through their day (or year or millennia)’. Worked up an appetite? You can get tins of ‘Mammoth Chunks’ (pictured on the right) that boast ‘bold mammothy flavor’. Both images are courtesy of Creative Commons
One customer snapped a photo of chainmail for sale in the quirky Los Angeles store. Picture courtesy of Creative Commons
The rear of the shop houses 826LA, a non-profit that supports students who attend under-resourced schools through tutoring, writing, and college access programs. Picture courtesy of Creative Commons
The representative added: ‘The Time Travel Mart was created to help time travellers of all temporal origins find convenient products to get them through their day (or year or millennia).
‘The store also sells books written by 826LA students (and other authors) and gives time travellers a glimpse into the fantastic and fantastical writing programs offered by 826LA.’
The store is a hit with locals and tourists alike, who stop by to pick up merchandise and to peruse the zany aisles.
One Yelp reviewer wrote: ‘It’s much more than just a mini-mart. I would say it’s a kitschy, cheeky, time-travel-themed art installation. The store decor and items for sale have tons of gags, even down to the labels and fine print.’
Another penned: ‘The best part is that the shop funds a writing workshop for kids. I love that if I buy something here it is going towards a good cause. Definitely check this place out.’
There is another Time Travel mart across the city in the Mar Vista neighbourhood of Los Angeles, which opened its doors in 2012.
For more information visit timetravelmart.com.