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User:Isobelpowell/Gum Wall

< User:Isobelpowell

Note

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This is a note to say that I am no longer editing this sandbox page. The information that I have collected has been moved over to the live version. Thanks! Isobelpowell (talk) 06:09, 14 February 2022 (UTC)

 
The Market Theater Gum Wall in 2009
 
General view in 2017

The Market Theater Gum Wall is a brick wall covered in used chewing gum located in an alleyway in Post Alley under Pike Place Market in Downtown Seattle. It is more specifically located at 1428 Post Aly, Seattle, WA, 98101.[1] Visitors must travel down a ramp to the left of the "Public Market Center" clock sign at the entrance of the market in order to reach the wall.[2] Much like Bubblegum Alley in San Luis Obispo, California, or the Maid-Rite Gum Wall in Greenville Ohio[3], the Market Theater Gum Wall is a local landmark. It is a huge Tourist Attraction for the city of Seattle. There are often hundreds of visitors that locate the wall on the weekends.[4] Parts of the gum coating alongside the walls are several inches thick, and the coating is 15 feet (4.6 m) high along a 50-foot-long (15 m) section.[5]

History

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The wall is located next to the box office for the Market Theater. The tradition began around 1993 when patrons of Unexpected Productions' Seattle Theatresports stuck gum to the wall and placed coins in the gum blobs.[6] Eventually, a passerby took the coins from the wall, leaving the gum formation by itself.[7] Theater workers scraped the gum away twice, but eventually gave up after market officials deemed the gum wall a tourist attraction around 1999.[5][6] Some people created small works of art out of gum.[8]

Before the wall was cleaned, a majority of the gum pieces would have lasted for years on the wall. Colder climates usually have no affect on the gum's movement, yet sun and warm temperatures can allow gum to melt and droop over any hanging surfaces.[9]

Recognition

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It was named one of the top 5 germiest tourist attractions in 2009, second to the Blarney Stone.[5][10][11] The Washington state governor, Jay Inslee, said it is his "favorite thing about Seattle you can't find anywhere else".[12] The Gum Wall is located at the start of the Ghost Tour,[13][14] and also a popular site with wedding photographers.[6] Oftentimes, visitors create declarations of love out of gum[15], making for a comparison of the gum wall to other romantic spots such as the Pont des Art in Paris.

The 2009 film Love Happens, featuring Jennifer Aniston, has a scene that was shot at the Gum Wall. [16][17]

Many accredit the success of the attraction to the way that it's shared on social media.[18] The #gumwall hashtag has over 233,000 posts on Instagram.[19]

Cleaning

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On November 3, 2015, it was announced by the Pike Place Market Preservation & Development Authority that for the first time in 20 years the great attraction gum 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.[20][21][22]Prior to this, it had only ever been spot-cleaned in areas where gum had been placed in prohibited areas.[23]

Because the announcement of the cleaning caused a lot of commotion amongst Seattle residents and fans of the tourist spot, Pike Place Market officials launched a photo contest in which fans were encouraged to share their own photos and memories with the wall online. [24]

Work began on November 10 and took 130 hours to complete[25], with over 2,350 pounds (1,070 kg) of gum removed and disposed of.[26][27] The work, done by local company Cascadian Building Maintenance, was figured to cost about $4,000 for completion.[28] The temperature of the steam machines reached up to 280°F, essentially delaminating the gum pieces and ensuring that the low pressure would not harm the bricks.[29][30] The gum was then disposed of in the garbage.[31]

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. [32] Some of the new additions were memorials to the November 2015 Paris attacks.[33]

Controversy

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Some argue that the gum wall encourages litter[34] as visitors usually stick items like cigarette butts or gum wrappers along the wall.[35] There were also prior complaints that the gum was being tracked into nearby businesses[36] and that it attracts rats in the alley.[37] Bars and restaurants located on the opposite side of the attraction tried to keep the gum away from their properties by posting signs that read 'No Gum', however this tactic was not successful.[38]

As art

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The gum wall is an example of Participatory Art and Conceptual Art.

Although officials of the Pike Place Market defined the concern around gum affecting the brick wall, some may see the participation in sticking up the substance as attributing to collective action. [39] Many may classify the spot as a 'collective art' piece, where something colloquially bad has been transformed into artwork.[40]

The wall is also usually decorated with physical copies of some artists' work that they stick up.[41] Given that the wall is rarely cleaned, many practice graffiti art on spots where there is less gum and more visibility. [9]

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "The Gum Wall (Seattle) - 2022 All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)". Tripadvisor. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
  2. ^ "The Gum Wall". Pike Place Market. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  3. ^ Images, Ohio. "The Maid-Rite Gum Wall". www.ohiomagazine.com. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  4. ^ "The Sticky Story Behind Seattle's Famous Gum Wall". Secret Seattle. April 26, 2021. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Chen, Stephanie (July 20, 2009). "Kissing, chewing -- the 'germiest ' tourist attractions". CNN. Retrieved August 14, 2009.
  6. ^ a b c Eskenazi, Stuart (June 6, 2008). "Market lost & found". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 14, 2009.
  7. ^ Unexpected Productions. "The Gum Wall". Unexpected Productions. Retrieved January 22, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ Carter, Chelsea J. (June 30, 2006). "Gumming it: Messages designed to stick on Seattle's Gum Wall". The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
  9. ^ a b "Stuck On You: Seattle's Gum Wall Is Pretty, Gross". WebUrbanist. August 29, 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  10. ^ "Ewww! Seattle gum wall a top germy attraction". Komo News. June 13, 2009. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  11. ^ Griswold, Jamie (June 11, 2009). "Seattle Gum Wall ranks in top 5 "Germiest Attractions"". MyNorthWest.com. Retrieved August 14, 2009.
  12. ^ Sean Nelson with Jay Inslee (May 23, 2018), "Seattle's Most Noteworthy Marvels, Landmarks and Diversions", The Stranger's Know-it-all Guide to Seattle, by Stranger Staff, Leilani Polk (managing editor) (ed.), The Stranger, pp. 9–10 {{citation}}: |editor= has generic name (help)
  13. ^ "Post Alley - Gum Wall". The News Tribune. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved August 14, 2009.
  14. ^ "The Pike Place Market Ghost Tours". SPI blog. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. September 28, 2008. Retrieved August 14, 2009.
  15. ^ "The Sticky Story Behind Seattle's Famous Gum Wall". Secret Seattle. April 26, 2021. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
  16. ^ Mulady, Kathy (March 12, 2008). "Movie crews to close streets around Pike Place Market today". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved August 14, 2009.
  17. ^ Guzman, Monica (March 18, 2008). "'Traveling': Why Jen Aniston film was set in Seattle". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved August 14, 2009.
  18. ^ "A generation of memories steam-cleaned off Seattle's 'gross' but 'beautiful' Gum Wall". Los Angeles Times. November 11, 2015. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  19. ^ "#gumwall hashtag on Instagram • Photos and Videos". www.instagram.com. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  20. ^ Crawford, Emily (November 3, 2015). "Pike Place Market's Famous Gum Wall Receives Complete Cleaning" (PDF) (Press release). Pike Place Market Preservation & Development Authority. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  21. ^ O'Brien, Kirsten. "Cleaning up Seattle's gum wall". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
  22. ^ "Seattle's Gum Wall getting a scrub down". KING-TV. November 3, 2015. Archived from the original on November 19, 2015. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  23. ^ News, A. B. C. "Seattle's Gum Wall Is Getting Scrubbed, Making Room for a 'Clean Canvas'". ABC News. Retrieved February 6, 2022. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  24. ^ "Seattle gum wall: steam-cleaners at work to clear 'germiest place on Earth'". the Guardian. November 11, 2015. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  25. ^ DeMay, Daniel (November 16, 2015). "Gum wall not clean for long". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  26. ^ Bush, Evan (November 10, 2015). "Gum wall gets naked in early-morning steam cleaning". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  27. ^ Bush, Evan (November 16, 2015). "Seattle gum-wall time-lapse: Watch ton of gum disappear in a minute". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  28. ^ CNN, By Marnie Hunter. "Pike Place Market's gum wall getting a deep cleaning". CNN. Retrieved February 9, 2022. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  29. ^ Sticky situation: Cleaning up Seattle 'gum wall', retrieved February 4, 2022
  30. ^ Parkland College; Barnes, Scott; Floess, Peter; Webb, Brittany; Moss, Matthew; Trueblood, Zach; Benson, Sierra; Kenter, Jacob; Vilmin, Adam (November 11, 2015). "Prospectus, November 11, 2015". Prospectus 2015.
  31. ^ "Seattle gum wall: Where will all the discarded gum go?". The Seattle Times. November 4, 2015. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  32. ^ Taylor, Alan. "Scrape It Off, Scrape It Off—Seattle Removes 20 Years Worth of Gum From Historic Wall - The Atlantic". www.theatlantic.com. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  33. ^ Frohne, Lauren (November 15, 2015). ""Re-gumming" the gum wall — for Paris". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  34. ^ "The Gum Wall of Seattle". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  35. ^ "The Sticky Story Behind Seattle's Famous Gum Wall". Secret Seattle. April 26, 2021. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  36. ^ "Seattle Says Goodbye To A Disgusting Tourist Attraction: The Gum Wall". NPR.org. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  37. ^ "Bubble Rubble: Crews Clean Up Famed Seattle 'Gum Wall'". NBC News. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  38. ^ Sailor, Craig (April 15, 2018). "Popular gum wall poses sticky situation in Seattle; Social media has turned this sticky alley into one of Seattle's top tourist destinations". Richmond Times Dispatch.
  39. ^ Joung, Joo Yeoun (2020). "Rest Stop : a design exploration inspired by micro moment of food". doi:10.14288/1.0388507. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  40. ^ Leob, J. (March 1, 2018). "Walls - Engineering in society: Good, Bad or Ugly? - Ten significant wall". Engineering & Technology. 13 (2): 30–33. doi:10.1049/et.2018.0220. ISSN 1750-9637.
  41. ^ "Market Theater Gum Wall: The Sticky Story of a Wall Decorated in Chewing Gum". September 5, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
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47°36′29.8794″N 122°20′25.0254″W / 47.608299833°N 122.340284833°W / 47.608299833; -122.340284833

Category:Pike Place Market Category:Tourist attractions in Seattle Category:Chewing gum


 

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