Uncle Fun

We were so sad when we read the news that uncle fun was closing. If we had the chance we would’ve hopped on a plan from Belgium to visit this place one more time. One of the little joys in life for me are giving presents, to my friends, to relatives, to almost anyone i care about. If you’re also like this this place has to be one of the coolest places on earth. I wanted to leave this place with almost anything in there, but i left with two bags full of cool gifts and souvenirs to get through birthdays and party’s for the next few years or so. So much funny stuff in here and also a lot of odd strange things, when i opened a drawer with the wwf panda on it i was excited to find old 90’s wrestling stuff. My pro-​wrestler buddy will be delighted when he gets this stuff.
We’ll be back in Chicago in September for riot-​fest, if anyone has any good tips for a suitable uncle-​fun replacement shop please hit me up!

Uncle Fun was such a cool store. I’m so sad that it’s closed. There really aren’t too many places like this anymore, unfortunately.

Thanks for everything, Uncle Fun! Enjoy your retirement– from Chicago, at least.
There’s always Baltimore to visit…

Best way to easily spend hours browsing.
Uncle fun was a whole party of fun the moment I stepped in! They have it ALL: gag gifts, books from each genre you could ever think of across the span of decades, eclectic décor and trinkets, cards and post cards as well as random pictures, old-​fashioned candy, old games, vintage porn cards (that was a bit of a shock haha), just everything.
I spent a good hour looking through all the shelves, in all the corners, through all the dresser drawers being used to organize hundred of trinkets and decorations, and still I feel like I could have spent hours more. I ended up spending about $ 40 on books and cards mostly, but I got a bang for my buck as everything is super cheap. The lady that rang me up had the most perfect and appropriate personality for a place like Uncle Fun– she was a hoot!
OVERALL
–A+ variety
–prices so low they’re a steal
–I especially loved their selection of books
–perfect place to kill time
–great, humorous staff
I guarantee that as you’re leaving you’ll already be planning your next visit; I know I did.

I heard an awful rumor that they are closing!!! WHY!!!
*sniff*
I hope it’s not true, because it’s hands down my favorite way to spend an afternoon in the entire city. Say it ain’t so…

It’s hard not to love this place. The first time I was here I think I ended up spending $ 80 on God knows what!
Uncle Funs is the kind of place where you could kill some time, just looking around at all the amazing stuff they carry. From pranks to funny gag gifts, this place will guarantee some great laughs. Where else can you find a Mustachifer (pacifier that looks like a mustache) for your baby?

If you are like me and have a borderline hoarding habit of acquiring dead stock and campy hob nobs then this is the place to go!
I grew up in Chicago and spent many of my formative adolescent years bumming around the Belmont Clark Area and Uncle Fun was one of my regular stops. This place has some of the weirdest stuff I’ve ever seen. Every time I go in here I find something edging on brilliance and my most recent visit the last time I came into Chicago reaffirmed that. I am not sure if there are words to explain this brilliance so I’m just going to try my darndest and keep on bothering you to go.
Uncle Fun is a cross between a hob goblin’s garage sale and a cereal box toy warehouse; it’s a tiny shop filled to the brim with drawers, bins and barrels full of stickers, small toys, decorations and things that simply cannot be explained.
The staff is SUPER friendly. Literally every time I’ve been here the staff have struck up friendly conversation and on the rare occasion that I was looking for something with a particular theme in mind, they have always been more than eager to help me find what I’m looking for (how could you not be eager to help a young girl search for Elvis coasters?)
Although it pains me to say this, there is probably not a single thing in Uncle Fun that you’ll need (like truly need). I didn’t need a jesus bobblehead but I knew it would look cool. Those TMNT stickers? A necessity? suuurrreeee. So if you have poor impulse control and a tendancy to purchase anything within ten feet of you that is cheap prepare to be destroyed. You might want to avoid this store but that wouldn’t be fun at all– and we’re here to have fun amirite?
speaking of poor impulse control, it’s a good idea to keep your small ones close to you. While Uncle Fun may seem like a very kid friendly place, there are a fair number of adult themed products there. You have been warned.
The store also has inconsistent hours so I’d highly reccomend you call ahead or visit the website before you make a mecca over there.
If you’re in the hood Check it out. Uncle Fun is a wonderful trip down memory lane and you will not leave empty handed.
Pros: amazing trinkets, friendly staff, well priced and a one of a kind store
Cons: inconsistent hours and not always so kid friendly.

Uncle Fun is nostalgia, awkwardness and awesomeness all wrapped into one cute little store. Walking through and looking at all the gizmos and gadgets takes you back to childhood for sure! It seems like they raided thrift stores, garage sales and party favor stores and came up with their inventory. They have everything from ring pops to Bill Clinton trading cards (a personal fave) to super kitchy things like Felix the cat memorabilia and religious illustration cards. SO many possibilities to decorate a cubicle/​desk space with and even more options for gag gifts or even serious gifts! There were two women working the day I ventured in to Uncle Fun. The younger one was super enthusiastic and fun… you can tell she had a great time working there. The «older» one was kind of the «get off my porch!”-type not-​as-​pleasant worker. They balanced each other well. Pricing was ridiculously reasonable and it’s just a great little shop! Even if you don’t leave with a shopping bag, you’ll definitely leave with a smile.

As its name suggest, its all about fun. That’s what I was looking for and this is where a found it, with the kids in tow. You’ll find anything you are looking for, from toys to adult’s play things. This is one popular joint that has customers streaming in and out because of the offerings. Chatter teeth, Rubber Spiders, Pet Poop and any other novelty you can think of. It’s all here. What amazed me most was the price of all the items available. And even if you forgot something, there was always the possibility of finding it on your next visit.
I have grown to love the place because of the friendly customer service that is always ready to assist you in making the most mundane choices of items. Just being there is fun in itself and it is a great way to spend time with the wife and kids.

Tons of goofy, silly items in this store. Just take a stroll and see what catches your fancy. I felt transported back to my youth during my last visit.
Also — the staff is sofa king nice. I needed a bald cap for Britney Spears’s costume (remember when she went bald during her koo-​koo phase). Well, they were out of bald caps. But they loved my costume idea and wanted to make sure I could be Ms. Spears. So they called another store to see if they had caps in stock. They did. And I got my cap and realized my dream of playing cray-​cray Britney Spears.
They went out of their way — even if they didn’t get the money — to help me out.
And by the way — the costume was a hit!

Such a fun store!!! Everything you never thought you’d need, until you saw it!
Fun atmosphere and staff!

What is this magical place?!? I’m still not quite sure. Vintage-​y robot toys, ancient 101 Dalmatians figurines, basically every stinky/​butt/​fart/​joke novelty item you could conceive of, and then actual books of interesting art-​y things in the back (example: Mexican pop art, which actually was quite cool). The inventory was kind of overwhelming in an awesome way (so going back for the single bag of dismembered rubber octopus tentacles I saw hanging from the ceiling).
Another thing I really enjoyed about it was that most of the stuff there was quite cheap. There are lots of «look at how quirky and ironically kitschy we are!» sorts of novelty shops in Lakeview, but most of the ones I’ve found are kinda overpriced.
Like some people said, the salespeople are quite enthusiastic about their merchandise, but I didn’t find the guy I talked to overly pushy.
This was a totally accidental find for me, but I am definitely coming back again and again.

Merrily We Farted Home — Shaffer Family Holiday Excursion
The annual trip to Uncle Fun at the end of the year was made extra special when my boys scored the fart goo they’d been yearning over for some time now. Add in some pop rocks, and trick sealed liquid brandy glasses, and our trip was officially complete.
Here you’ll find a mix of adult-​novelty gifts like butt cheek piggy banks and grown-​up gag books, from wedding toppers, to fake barf, trick-​your-​friend fake parking tickets, books and traditional wind up toys for kids, and some really nostalgic candy you probably remember eating at one point in your life.
Weird postcards of people you don’t know. Weird religious icon stuff, cool cards and stationary (even saw a set by Binth), tons of $ 1 items, there’s so much to see it’s all packed in there.
The staff is super friendly and annoyingly pushy at times when they encourage you to take the whole basket and fill it up. But they make me laugh each and every time, and I love the passion they have for showing me the latest and the greatest. The aisles are crowded, but everyone shopping realizes the getting around challenge, so no one minds dodging the other person or doing the excuse me dance.
This place is a must if you haven’t been there. It’s been around FOREVER, and there’s a reason. Need a token gift, gag gift, or trip back to the past, you’ll love it here. And, there’s plenty of items to purchase that make noise and make parents go really crazy in the car all the way up north from the city. But, there were some pretty great fart noises mixed with giggles coming from the back seat, and that’s priceless.

If you need a novelty gift, you’ll probably find it here. But the staff tries to hard sell you stuff and it’s makes shopping here NOT fun.
Besides that they are mean if you don’t buy into their sales pitches and each time I go here it’s the same. The first time I thought I imagined it, but this last time I knew I hadn’t.
For instance, I asked for a receipt, and the cashier said (passively/​aggressively), «You want a receipt?» And she tore off a receipt and gave it to me. When I got home and looked at it, it wasn’t mine. It was for two items totalling $ 50, not what I had bought at all.
I guess I should’ve specified that I wanted MY receipt.

Seriously, the name says it all. Slinky glasses (or whatever they’re called), a steve martin style arrow through the head, AND fake dog poo? All in one store? It also has those little spring winded desk toys that make my co-​workers roll their eyes.
Random art project in need of random parts of old toys — go to Uncle Fun.
Friends being unreasonably late in meeting up for drinks at Schubas? Go to Uncle Fun (assuming y’all are drinking during Uncle Fun hours…).
Need refuge from Chicago winters? Uncle Fun’s!
I think I’ve made my point.

Needing a novelty prop (an extendable fork) for a play I was working on, I made my way over to Uncle Fun. I somehow knew that I could find what I needed at this store. And I always like having an excuse to explore all the many novelty offerings hidden away on shelves and in drawers. I found what I needed, and I was also able to load up on some awesome toys that I used for opening night gifts for cast and crew.
A trip to Uncle Fun always brightens my day. The staff is cheerful, friendly, and always willing to answer questions or help you find something in the store that you kind of remembered seeing several months ago. They also have all of your novelty needs under one roof. Rubber chicken? Check. Whoopee cushion? Check. Chatter teeth? Check. They also have a selection of fun books, postcards, vintage toys, candy, etc.
I could spend hours perusing all the various offerings to be found on Uncle Fun’s shelves, and sometimes I do spend hours here.

Uncle Fun is AWESOME!
It was raining and some friends and I were going to the Belmont/​Sheffield music fest so we went in and bought 3 of those umbrella hats for $ 3 each. By the time we got to the fest it was done raining and some drunk dude wanted to buy my umbrella hat. I ended up selling it to him for $ 20. You can sell a drunk ANYTHING!
Aside from that, Uncle Fun is filled with every weird novelty you can imagine! Do you want a toaster that makes the toasty part of your bread look like Jesus? They’ve got it. Do you need a rubber chicken for some reason? Your’e all set, they’ve got it. Do you need a huge pink fuzzy pimp hat? Score! They’ve got it!
Honestly, you’ll be amazed by the stuff in the store. The prices are very reasonable too (for the most part)

A) This place should be called «Way Too Much Fun.»
B) Every visitor to the city should make it a «must see.»
C) If you are trying to figure out what to do with the kids, bring ‘em here. You can kill an entire afternoon with their inventory.(And the dirty stuff is pretty much locked up.)
D) THE place for $ 1.50 gifts
I came for a fake rat. I left with;
— two fake rats
— worms which grow in water glasses
— a fake cat turd
— an «only my cat understands me» vanilla car air freshener
— a normal clock for my bathroom
— a fake spider
All this for about 11 bucks.
Of course, the staff is fun, too. Always ready to help you find some little gem or your inner eighth-​grader. Also, a big advantage of coming here. It’s the only place in Chicago you can engage total strangers in laughter and conversation. Random people will smile at you. Unlike at the Girl and The Goat.

Bacon Lip Balm!!!
Do I need to say anthing more then that? Yes they have that here!!!
I saw this place on Unilocal and had to go check it out. At first, the name scared me… was this place the creepy uncle that everyone told you to stay away from or was this really the fun uncle. After walking in, I realized that this was the fun uncle.
This store has the most unique gifts ever. There were to many things to list. It reminded me of being a kid and you went to the dime store and could actually get a little toy for a dime. I saw some cute items here for a quarter. Yes the prices were amazing… nothing here was too expensive. The most expensive thing I saw was a Pee Wee Herman Doll for 50 bucks and that was really cheap in my book.
If you are an Austin Powers Fan there are some great novelties here. Yeah Baby!!! Other items I saw included: Rattlesnake Eggs… Finger traps… hand shake buzzers… a whistle you can stick in your car exhaust… books…Mexican wrestling masks… and it goes on and on… so much fun just to walk around the store and you can buy everything. I have no idea where they even got all of this stuff. The buyer for this store must have a fun time searching the warehouses of the world for lost items. I can hardly wait to come back here again.

Great place for fun knick knacks and oddities such as fake drivers’ licenceses of our past presdents, whoopee cushions, army men, and drawer upon drawer of fun baubles.
They have a good collection of bobble heads and also arty books. After having seen a Mexican printmaker featured on Antiques Road Show the night before, there was a whole book on it at Uncle Fun!
My son loves the Three Stooges, like any male with a pulse, so the Stooges in Your Pocket was a great find for him. «Nyuk Nyuk Nyuks», and «Why, Coitanlies» at the push of a button!
The staff are super psyched that you’re visiting and like to make small talk. I could totally see this as a fun stop on a date, challenging each other to spend $ 2 to find the weirdest thing in the store. What a great idea! Just remember to invite me to the wedding! And to get your funky fun cake decorations at Uncle Fun.