Gum Wall | |
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General view in 2017 | |
Coordinates: 47°36′29.8794″N122°20′25.0254″W / 47.608299833°N 122.340284833°W |
The Gum Wall is a brick wall situated beneath Pike Place Market in Downtown Seattle, Washington, United States. Located on Post Alley near Pike Street, south of the market's main entrance off 1st Avenue, the wall is covered with used chewing gum. Certain sections of the gum accumulation on the walls measure several inches in thickness, reaching a height of 15 feet (4.6 m) along a 50-foot-long (15 m) segment. [1] Originating inadvertently in the 1990s, the Market Theater Gum Wall has evolved into a notable tourist attraction and local landmark.
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. After it became the host of Unexpected Productions' Theatresports in 1991, the theater's walls were covered by patrons' pieces of used gum that had pennies pushed into them. The coins were later removed, but the gum remained amid several cleanings of the walls under orders from the Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority. [2] [3] The market's officials reversed course and allowed the gum wall to stay, deeming it to be a tourist attraction around 1999. [2] [1]
By the late 2000s, the gum wall had grown to 50 feet (15 m) long and included pieces as high as 20 feet (6.1 m). [2] [1] Some contributors to the gum wall arranged their pieces to create small works of art. [4]
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. In 2015, the Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority removed all the gum from the wall and steam-cleaned it in order to prevent the degradation of the brick. 2,350 lb (1,070 kg) of gum were removed. [5] Visitors and local residents soon added a new layer of gum to the wall immediately after the cleanup was completed, and gum has continued to accumulate.
It was named one of the top 5 "germiest" tourist attractions in 2009, second to the Blarney Stone. [1] [6] [7] The Washington state governor, Jay Inslee, said it is his "favorite thing about Seattle you can't find anywhere else". [8] The Gum Wall is located at the start of the Ghost Tour, [9] [10] and also a popular site with wedding photographers. [2] Oftentimes, visitors create declarations of love out of gum, [11] making for a comparison of the gum wall to other romantic spots such as the Pont des Art in Paris.
On November 3, 2015, it was announced by the Pike Place Market Preservation & Development Authority that for the first time in 20 years, the wall would be receiving a total scrub down for maintenance and steam cleaning, to prevent further erosion of the bricks on the walls from the sugar in the gum. [12] [13] [14] Prior to this, it had only ever been spot-cleaned in areas where gum had been placed in prohibited areas. [15] The announcement caused significant commotion among Seattle residents and admirers of the tourist attraction. In response, Pike Place Market officials launched a photo contest, encouraging fans to share their personal photos and memories of the wall online. [16]
Work began on November 10 and took 130 hours to complete, [17] with over 2,350 pounds (1,070 kg) of gum removed and disposed of. [18] [19] The work, done by local company Cascadian Building Maintenance, was figured to cost about $4,000 for completion. [20] The temperature of the steam machines reached up to 280 °F (138 °C), essentially delaminating the gum pieces and ensuring that the low pressure would not harm the bricks. [21] [22] The gum was then disposed of in the garbage. [23]
After the cleaning was finished, gum began to be re-added to the wall almost immediately, as there were no preventative measures to prohibit sticking gum to the newly cleaned wall. [24] Some of the new additions were memorials to the November 2015 Paris attacks. [25]
Some argue that the gum wall encourages litter[ citation needed ] as visitors usually stick items like cigarette butts or gum wrappers along the wall. [11] There were also prior complaints that the gum was being tracked into nearby businesses [26] and that it attracts rats in the alley. [27] Bars and restaurants situated across from the attraction attempted to prevent gum from reaching their properties by displaying signs with the message "No Gum," but this strategy proved ineffective. [28]
Although officials of the Pike Place Market defined the concern about the gum affecting the brick wall, some may see the participation in sticking up the substance as attributing to collective action. [29] Many may classify the spot as a 'collective art' piece, where something colloquially bad has been transformed into artwork. [30] The wall is also usually decorated with physical copies of some artists' work that they stick up. [31] Given that the wall is rarely cleaned, many practice graffiti art on spots where there is less gum and more visibility. [32]
In 2023, a local artist chewed 200 pieces of gum to create a tribute to Pete Carroll on the wall. [33] [34]
A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement.
Bubble gum is a type of chewing gum, designed to be inflated out of the mouth as a bubble.
Chewing gum is a soft, cohesive substance designed to be chewed without being swallowed. Modern chewing gum is composed of gum base, sweeteners, softeners/plasticizers, flavors, colors, and, typically, a hard or powdered polyol coating. Its texture is reminiscent of rubber because of the physical-chemical properties of its polymer, plasticizer, and resin components, which contribute to its elastic-plastic, sticky, chewy characteristics.
The sale of chewing gum in Singapore has been illegal since 1992. Some motivations for the ban included stopping the placement of used chewing gum in inappropriate and costly places, such as the sensors of subway doors, inside lock cylinders, and on elevator buttons. Since 2004, an exception has existed for therapeutic, dental, and nicotine chewing gum, which can be bought from a doctor or registered pharmacist. It is not illegal to chew gum in Singapore, but it is against the law to import it and sell it, apart from the aforementioned exceptions. According to a BBC News article, it is legal for a traveler to bring in a small amount of chewing gum for personal use, and there is a fine for spitting the gum out in an inappropriate place.
Blibber-Blubber was the first bubble gum formulation, developed in 1906 by American confectioner Frank H. Fleer. The gum was brittle and sticky, with it containing little cohesion; for these reasons, the gum was never marketed. It also required vigorous rubbing with a solvent to remove from the face after the bubble had burst.
Pike Place Fish Market is an open-air fish market at Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington, United States, located at the corner of Pike Street and Pike Place. Founded in 1930, it is known for its tradition of fishmongers throwing the fish purchased by customers prior to wrapping it. The fish market was near to bankruptcy in 1986, but after the introduction of new practices such as the fish throwing, games, and customer performances, it received significant exposure in national media and on television shows. Pike Place Fish Market is today a world-famous tourist destination, attracting up to 10,000 daily visitors.
Bubblegum Alley is a tourist attraction in downtown San Luis Obispo, California, known for its accumulation of used bubble gum on the walls of an alley. It is a 15-foot (4.6 m) high and 70-foot (21 m) long alley lined with chewed gum left by passers-by. It covers a stretch of 20 meters in the 700 block of Higuera Street in downtown San Luis Obispo.
Pike Place Market is a public market in Seattle, Washington, United States. It opened on August 17, 1907, and is one of the oldest continuously operated public farmers' markets in the United States. Overlooking the Elliott Bay waterfront on Puget Sound, it serves as a place of business for many small farmers, craftspeople and merchants. It is named for its central street, Pike Place, which runs northwest from Pike Street to Virginia Street on the western edge of Downtown Seattle. Pike Place Market is Seattle's most popular tourist destination and the 33rd most visited tourist attraction in the world, with more than 10 million annual visitors.
The Pike Place Starbucks store, also known as the Original Starbucks, is the first Starbucks store, established in 1971 at Pike Place Market, in the downtown core of Seattle, Washington, United States. It has kept its early appearance over time, and is subject to design guidelines and historic significance. It is known for tourist attraction and hosting crowds. While commonly referred to as the first Starbucks location, the current address is the second for the Pike Place store. The first restaurant was located at 2000 Western Avenue for five years. It is currently located in 1912 Pike Place.
Post Alley is a short street in Seattle. The northern end of the street runs under and through Pike Place Market. The alley is mostly paved with bricks. It was called "Seattle's best-known alley for its pedestrian environment and abutting shops and restaurants" out of all 425 alleys in the city, and has been described as having a "European feel".
Pike Place Chowder is a seafood restaurant with two locations in Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington.
Tenzing Momo is a shop in Seattle's Pike Place Market, in the U.S. state of Washington.
DeLaurenti Food & Wine is an Italian speciality grocery store and delicatessen at Seattle's Pike Place Market, in the U.S. state of Washington.
Ghost Alley Espresso is a coffee shop located at Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington, United States. The business operates in a former service room for bathroom attendants on Post Alley, close to the Gum Wall. The current owner Michael Buchwald purchased the business from Mercedes Carrabba, who used the shop as a starting location for ghost tours. The space is supposedly haunted by the ghost of Arthur Goodwin, a former manager of Pike Place Market.
Country Dough was a Chinese restaurant at Seattle's Pike Place Market, in the U.S. state of Washington.
Jack's Fish Spot is a fish market and seafood bar at Seattle's Pike Place Market, in the U.S. state of Washington.
Old Seattle Paperworks is a shop at Seattle's Pike Place Market, in the U.S. state of Washington.
Market Grill is a restaurant at Pike Place Market, in the U.S. state of Washington.
The Triangle Building is a two-story building in Seattle's Pike Place Market, in the U.S. state of Washington.
Turkish Delight is a restaurant at Seattle's Pike Place Market, in the U.S. state of Washington.