Gum Wall | Parede de Chiclete

Post Alley – Pike Place Market – Seattle – USA

In the early 1990s, the queue to Market Theater was long and the wait annoyed those who waited for their turn to buy tickets. Lacking better things to do, people chewed gum to kill time and ended up sticking gum on the side wall of the theater.

The theater staff cleaned its walls, but soon another queue was formed and more gum was stuck. The buildup of colored gum was getting difficult to remove and the theater staff realized that this wall had turned into an attraction. So they gave up cleaning it.

The Gum Wall became an official tourist spot in Seattle in 1999 and it is considered the second “germiest attraction” in the World by TripAdvisor site – the first is Blarney Stone (Stone of Eloquence), in Ireland, which supposedly grants the gift of eloquence to those who kiss it.

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No início dos anos 1990, a fila do Market Theater era longa e a espera irritava quem aguardava sua vez para comprar ingresso. Na falta do que fazer, as pessoas mascavam chiclete para matar o tempo e acabavam grudando a goma na parede lateral do teatro.

Funcionários do teatro limpavam as paredes, mas logo outra fila se formava e mais chiclete era colado. O acúmulo de goma colorida foi ficando difícil de ser removido e perceberam que a tal parede tinha virado atração. E assim desistiram de limpá-la.

A Parede de Chiclete virou ponto turístico oficial de Seattle em 1999 e é considerada a segunda “atração com mais germes” do mundo pelo site de turismo TripAdvisor — a primeira é a Pedra da Eloquência (Blarney Stone), na Irlanda, que supostamente confere o dom da eloquência àquele que a beija.