Thursday Morning Candy – 826's Online Stores

To thousands of young students, those three little digits mean one thing: writing. Yesterday, we put the spotlight on the Ministry of Stories in London, so for this week’s Thursday Morning Candy, it seemed only appropriate to showcase a fun way to support the organization that started it all: 826.

826 is becoming prominent enough that you might be thinking, “Old news… Heard it!” (For those unfamiliar with 826 and their work, a quick primer can be found on the national organization’s website.) But did you know that the 826 branches sell many of their “products” online?

The Pirate Store (826 Valencia) sells peg-leg sizing charts, designer glass eyes, eyepatches, and bottles of “Scurvy Begone.” The Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. (826 Seattle) offers “Certainty” and “Uncertainty” in convenient bottle form, as well as a canned black hole starter kit, panic buttons, soft fiber garments, and cherry-scented smoke-ring guns. The Boring Store (826 Chicago), which is NOT a secret agent supply store, can hook you up with a banana cell phone, a Barbasol can safe, pencil drumsticks, rear-view sunglasses, and much more.

Other branches supply everything from time travel supply to superhero equipment to Bigfoot research materials. All the branches sell T-shirts and (even better) collections of writings by 826 students. And, of course, all proceeds go directly to support 826 programs. Next time you’re looking for a writerly gift, or a treat for the kid (or kid at heart) in your life, check out the 826 online stores or the 826 National store and feel good about supporting young writers.