“Don’t touch” is a rather silly admonition in a store full of toys. Ted Frankel has no patience for such scolding when parents bring their kids into Uncle Fun, his kitschy toy shop in Lakeview, where it’s nearly impossible not to find yourself picking things up.
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Frankel was raised in Cleveland by parents in the toy business (father did wholesale, mother retail), and they were always bringing home samples. Consequently he never completely put away his childish things: the bulging toy chest of his youth became the jam-packed shop of oddities that is his livelihood, crammed with boxing nun puppets, old sports medals, and windup cars.
Devoted customers started with Frankel back in the late 1970s, when he opened Goodies on Halsted, a forerunner of Uncle Fun that many remember for its soda fountain. In 1990 he opened Uncle Fun on Belmont and followed up three years later with Fly Paper, a card and stationery shop under the el tracks at Roscoe and Southport.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): Ted Frankel photo by Eugene Zakusilo.
