Since 2011, The Good Time Girls have been offering their entertaining and enlightening historical tours of Bellingham and Fairhaven. Each season, the Sin & Gin and Gore & Lore tours have been increasingly popular. It seems only natural that they should now have a brick and mortar presence.
Located at 217 West Holly Street, in what is becoming the most interesting block in downtown - with Film is Truth, Senate Smoke Shop, Goat Mountain Pizza and the Comics Place - The Bureau of Historical Investigation is everything you would expect from the Good Time Girls: intelligent, passionate and beautiful with a wicked sense of humor.
Walking into the Bureau is like stepping into a Bellingham Wunderkammer, a Living Cabinet of Historical Curiosities, filled with an elegant selection of art, jewelry, soaps, fragrances, books, prints, furniture, objects d'art and local curiosa. There is a lovely curated quality to everything - you sense each and every item was chosen with care and consideration to showcase only the most fascinating and interesting aspects of Bellingham. And everything is reasonably priced.
If the city of Bellingham is seen as the living museum through which The Good Time Girls guide us, The Bureau of Historical Investigation is the gift shop for the city.
The Bureau has only just opened but I imagine in the future if you were searching for a unicorn horn, clockwork automata, a photograph taken before 1826, clothing made from hummingbird's nest or fairy skeletons, you would be able to find them here.
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| Historical Prints - Bottom Left: A UFO Over A Flaming City |
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| Stereoscopic Viewer with Cards |
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| An Excellent Selection of Local History Books |
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| A bookcase of the Essentials: Strong Drinks, Strong Women & Well-Written History |
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| Fragrances Created to Evoke Nostalgic Memories of Particular Cities |
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| Madame Scodioli Soaps and Perfumes |
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| Bureau of Historical Investigation Postcards Note the Attention to Every Detail: Handwritten and Stamped Receipts |
The Bureau of Historical Investigation is currently open
Thursday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m..
For more information:
