A sticky attraction which sits in Post Alley under Pike Market Place, the Market Theater Gum Wall in Seattle is a brick alleyway wall covered in a colorful mosaic composed completely of used gum.
One of the most offbeat attractions in the US, parts of the wall are covered several inches thick, 15 feet high for 50 feet. It was named one of the germiest tourist destinations on Earth by TripAdvisor in 2009, second to Ireland’s Blarney Stone.
The tradition of sticking used gum to the wall started back in 1993 after patrons of the Market Theater became irritated about the long waits in the box office line. Apparently in that time their gum lost it’s flavor!
Theater workers scraped the gum away twice, but eventually gave up after market officials deemed the gum wall a tourist attraction around 1999. Today the wall continues to grow, and in certain sections chewing gum has even become a sophisticated art. You’ll find names written with pieces of gum as well as symbols like hearts and the peace sign.
Getting to the Gum Wall is easy; it is located on the corner of First Avenue and Pike Street, and you can find it by following the Market Theatre signs.
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10 Comments
What an intriguing tradition, I can see why it’s one of the germiest tourist attractions!
Lol absolutely – especially for those actually touching it when making their own additions :D
Interesting, but sort of gross. Colorful, photos. It’s really fun.
Lol it’s a really fun place to photograph, especially for the colors, but yes, incredibly gross! We loved it though, was a fun side trip while we were exploring Seattle :)
I wonder how many people recycle an old piece a few days later, kind of like storing it on the bedpost.
Lol I think we would probably be shocked to find out a decent amount of the population :P
It’s such a funny attraction! I was there last February and a Fire Marshall from home told me to stop there…how random is that? So, I took a photo for him but got a little lost trying to find it. This wall definitely goes on the quirky list!
Lol isn’t it! It’s incredibly random and quirky for sure, but so very colorful! And it was amusing to watch as people would run down with their own gum and pose for selfies while sticking it to the wall. Means their hand was on the wall for at least 30 seconds while someone tried to take a snap lol yuk :D
I just visited the gum wall for the first time last year even though I grew up close to Seattle and lived there! It really was as gross in person as everyone said haha.
Lol yes indeed! Though intriguing at the same time, and really very pretty in a kind of disgusting way :D The colors were crazy, I’ll give it that!