Fifth Grade
Worksheets
EWWW - Gross Art: The Pike Place Gum Wall
Seattle, Washington, has several well-known landmarks. The Space Needle is perhaps one of the most famous. The Washington Mutual Tower is one of the tallest buildings west of the Mississippi. Pike Place Market is one of Seattle's more famous tourist attractions. Pike Place is nationally known for its fish throwers and as the location of the original Starbucks store. One of the least publicized and oddest attractions at Pike Place, however, is the Gum Wall or the Wall of Gum.
Yes, you read it right - it's a wall of gum. EWWW! And, yes, it's totally GROOOSSS, but it's also oddly interesting. If you should visit Pike Place Market, you may happen to stumble upon the germiest attraction in town: Seattle's Gum Wall. It is located on the outside walls of the Market Theater on Post Alley. Post Alley is located on the street below the main market entrance.
It seems that back in 1990, people waiting to attend a performance at the theater needed a place to put their gum so they stuck it on the wall. A few people stuck coins to their gum as well. Not surprisingly, the coins were removed, leaving the gum behind. The theater owners didn't like it much. They ended up scraping the walls clean several times; however, people just couldn't seem to stop sticking their gum to the brick walls. The theater's owners finally decided to leave it. The Gum Wall soon became a tourist attraction.
