Cosmo Funtiques

Heed the stop sign in the front window of the tiny Mt. Auburn Street storefront and you step into a curious time machine. Described as part funhouse, part pop-culture museum, COSMO FUNTIQUES is packed to the gills with classic toys and other colorful artifacts dating back to the beginning of the past century. As you navigate the visual circus, your eyes come to rest on an army of Smurf figurines, lunch boxes, wind-up robots, and other tin toys (both vintage and good modern reproductions), a Little Orphan Annie oven, a Mickey Mouse View-Master, a Charlie the Tuna lamp, and Sting-Ray banana bike seats. Owner Mike Kaplan, whose personal collection helped launch the business, is also a vintage-bike enthusiast who collects, restores, and sells some of the coolest two-wheelers you will ever see. Rounding out the ever-changing inventory are antique guitars, cowboy boots, Hawaiian shirts, odd postcards, and art and advertising prints. The store’s Web site says, “If we don’t have it, we can find it. If we can’t find it, you don’t need it.” We’re inclined to agree.

COSMO FUNTIQUES | 609 Mount Auburn Street, Watertown | 800.551.7767 | cosmofuntiques.com