Penny For Your Thoughts By: Nancy Whitaker
I happened to see a headline as I was surfing the net and it was about the 12 worst places to go on vacation.
In other words the article was about “don’t waste your money or time going to see these places.” The one that interested me was The Gum Wall. Located in Seattle, the gum wall has quite a history regarding chewed up gum.
Your first reaction may be “yuck who wants to see someone’s old chewing gum ?”.
Of course being the curious person I am my first question would be , “ What are the various kinds of gum on the wall?” “How old is the oldest one and how does that gum stick to those bricks so long?”
The wall is located in Post Alley adjacent to the box office for the Market Theater, a venue for comedy shows and other small performances.
The Gum Wall was a result of people waiting in line to get in the theater. For some reason, they took their chewed gum and stuck it on the brick wall. Why? I have no idea.
But by 1991, the theater’s brick walls were covered by patrons’ pieces of chewed gum that had pennies pushed into them. The coins were later removed, but the gum remained.
When the first layer of gum found its place on the brick surface, the wall slowly turned into a burst of different colors. The persistence of gum-wielding patrons and the homey nature of the market atmosphere led to the acceptance of this weird tradition.
The Gum Wall became more than just a collection of discarded chewing gum over time and soon evolved into an art project.
Visitors would add their own unique touches by moulding the gum into shapes, spelling out names, and even creating little sculptures.
By the late 2000s, the gum wall had grown to 50 feet (15 m) long and included pieces as high as 20 feet. Some contributors to the gum wall arranged their pieces to create small works of art.
Since 1999, it has become one of the most recognizable tourist destinations in the Pike Place Market area and receives thousands of visitors annually. Visitors regularly add new gum to the wall.
Now, I remember when I was in high school, I was always chewing gum. Of course it was against the rules, but I took my chances. One day I got caught.
I was in study hall and the teacher called out my name as he saw me chewing gum. We had a platform in study hall and I had to put my gum on the blackboard and put my nose very close (if not in it ) and had to stand that way until that period ended.
Of course my favorite gum was bubble gum. You could crack it, blow big bubbles and i loved the flavor.
Bubble gum came around in 1928 when Walter Diemer, an accountant for the Fleer Chewing Gum in Philadelphia, was experimenting with new gum recipes.
One recipe, based on a formula for a chewing gum called Blibber Blubber was found to be less sticky than regular chewing gum and stretched more easily.
This gum became highly successful and was eventually named by the president of Fleer as Double Bubble because of its flexibility and the bubbles you could blow..
I wonder how much Bubble gum is on the Gum Wall? I have found out in my gum research that Juicy Fruit has been the most popular flavor in chewing gum.
Did you ever get caught chewing gum in school? Do you have a favorite kind of gum? Have you ever swallowed a piece of gum? Do you want to go visit the Gun Wall? Let me know and I’ll give you A Penny for Your Thoughts.
Oh by the way, you used to be able to get a piece of bubble gum for that Penny. Happy chewing!
