The title character is a shoeshine boy who travels back 100 years in time by means of a magic trunk and meets Zachariah Gibson, a travelling salesman and showman who peddles elixers and tonics. Episodes are based on the pair's travels between the worlds of the 1875 and 1975.

Both characters face challenges in their respective times - Timothy is an orphan who squats in an abandoned warehouse and makes a living shining shoes and doing odd jobs at a neighbourhood diner owned by Wilma.

Zachariah Gibson is a travelling salesman who sells medicinal cure-all elixirs of dubious quality out of his wagon.

The two form an unlikely bond across time that teaches Zachariah the value of friendship.