Woolly Mammoth — Local services in Lake View Township

I was really excited to check this place out whole visiting Chicago and really wanted to to like the place. I got to see a handful of artifacts and specimens that I've never seen before which is always a welcome experience, but I wound up leaving empty handed as even traditionally cheap gimmicky products were marked at about two times the average cost in regards to most other brick and mortar oddity shops in the country I've visited. I'm very well versed in values of taxidermy goods and other such oddities and have even processed and sold my own works for the past 5 or so years, and the items here were marked so far above value that I couldn't justify making a purchase despite the fact that I wanted to support the place. I'll always pay a bit more than usual to support a shop, but not at such a steep margin. The skulls in particular that they had on display were in pretty poor condition, even a greasy old partial piece of a deer skull will run you like $30+. I had to stifle a laugh when I noticed a little box of literal fragments of tiny bones and claws labeled "$2 a piece." Props to you for trying to make a buck off of your trash, but it came off as a joke to me. Human teeth will run you $12. A raccoon bacculum? I believe $14 or $16- either way, awfully high for an item that is mostly a gag gift at this point and can easily be found elsewhere for a mere few bucks. After leaving, I went to the Sideshow Gallery and was so pleased with what I found there and the pricing...

A wonderfully polarizing local legend that has to be experienced to be believed and requires repeat visits to begin to be absorbed. It's a modestly sized space densely populated with the beautifully bizarre and macabre. From vintage surgical artifacts to taxidermy to remnants of counterculture past, every piece has its own story and Adam, the owner, is happy to share these stories if you ask. (On that note, please be sure to ask before taking pictures.)

Woolly Mammoth is a dark and strange passion project that celebrates life through mementos of death. It may just be my favorite place in the city and definitely one that deserves your support, especially in an age that is increasingly difficult for brick and mortar...

I have never been in a store quite like this. It's kind of like the owner goes to estate sales and buys only the items toward which other antique dealers turn up their noses. And it works. You're not going to find a mid-century arc lamp or a King Louis pick-a-Roman-numeral side table, but if you're looking for a taxidermied fox or a giant metal tooth-cutter or a (and I swear I'm not making this up) shrunken head, this is the place. Half museum, half carnival sideshow, half store where a Shakespearean witch would buy her eye of newt--yeah, this place can pull off three halves--Woolly Mammoth is a great place to cleanse the palate between visits to more traditional, staid, and stodgy...