The Gum Wall.... may it rest in peace.
Hello gang. I was looking through some of my photos from around 2012 and I came across a nasty cluster that I wanted to share with you. They are of the famous Gum Wall in Seattle's Pike Place Market area.
If you are unfamiliar with the Gum Wall, it is exactly what the name implies. It's gum (lots of it) on a wall. It all started around 20 years ago when people were waiting to get into shows at a nearby club. They would stick their gum to the brick wall in the adjacent alley. Who knew it'd catch on and become a thing?
We knew about the Gum Wall prior to our visit to the city, but it was still a pretty surprising experience. First, it was a lot grosser than I imaged. I mean it didn't smell bad, or anything. Actually, it smelled pretty minty from all of the gum. It was just EVERYWHERE. In some spots, the gum was several inches thick. The old layers underneath were all discolored and greenish/gray with algae. A lot of the gum was stringy and hanging down. It just made you feel like you were covered with germs just from being in the area.
It was also a lot larger than I imagined. I thought the gum area was like 10 feet long, maybe. Oh no. This thing went on for well over 50 feet and was as tall as an average person could reach up and stick a piece. Some folks also got really creative with their gum, making sculptures with it and writing words. It went well with the misfit street art.
As gross as it was, it was still a really cool thing to see. I mean, it was a tradition that has been going strong since it began back in the early 1990's! But, as with all good things, it must come to an end. The wall was never washed since the gum began collecting... until 2015. Late in that year, the city scraped off all 2,200 pounds of gum, steam cleaned the area, and brought the alley back to it's brick foundation beneath. Fortunately, the last I heard, folks started sticking their gum back up there as soon as the cleaners left and it's close to being as covered today as it was before the cleaning. lol
Thanks for reading! I post a nature/travel-themed blog every day. Please upvote if you enjoyed it and be sure to follow me @customnature so you'll never miss one! See you next time. - Adam
***These daily blogs showcase the natural world. It is all original content using photos, stories, and experiences from my own travels.***
I would not have guessed it, haha.
That is a mix of beauty and odd. You captured all of it quite well. :)
Wow, I didn't realize this was a thing that happened in more than one place. There's a spot in San Luis Obispo called Bubblegum Alley that I contributed to last year.
Equal parts amazing and disgusting.
Ha! That's awesome, thanks for sharing. I believe there are around three popular gum walls in the US. I'm not sure where the other is...
Ah yes! The gum wall. I used to live near Tacoma and got to see this a couple times on trips to Seatle. Pike's Place is pretty neat. This also reminds me of South Street in Philly. They have gum trees lol.
lol The Gum Wall pretty well sums up ALL of south street.
Yikes, that's a sticky situation. LOL
This just makes me gag! I love Seattle though otherwise, and Pikeplace Market is awesome.
funny, who knew this would become such a tradition.
This picture was taken in late 2014 - each person in my scavenger hunt group had to stick a piece of gum on the wall. Seems sad that my contribution was cleaned off a year later.
We have a similar tradition at the University (gum tree) I attended although it's the second tree as the first one was chopped down by someone with a ax.
Ick... but kinda cool
That's interesting but in a gross sense of way!