Video: Inside the great gum wall standoff between Seattle and S.L.O.

Now it can be told: the deep, dark, sticky truth about the gum walls of Seattle and San Luis Obispo.

This two-minute video shows how S.L.O.’s wall on Higuera Street, also known as Bubblegum Alley, has grown since the 1970s (or before) into a beloved (yet revolting) landmark, its tradition fed by local students.

The video also shows the celebrated gum wall at Seattle’s Pike Place Market, apparently born in the 1980s. There, a major clean-up last fall threatened to imbalance the longstanding standoff between the locations.

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