12 Mile Long Gum Wrapper Chain at Ripley’s Museum in NY

ORLANDO, Fla. – (Feb. 3, 2010) – Here’s something to chew on: Gary Duschl has a gum wrapper chain that stretches for 12 miles.

• That’s 42 times the height of the Empire State Building.
• It’s as long as 210 football fields.
• It’s twice as long as the height of Mount Everest.
• It would take 5 hours to walk the length of the chain.
• It would take 12 minutes to drive its length in a car at 60 mph.
• If full, all the wrappers would contain 5 tons of gum.
• He has spent more than 24,000 hours and 45 years on this feat.

Oh, did we mention it’s a chain of gum wrappers?

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Times Square will hold a media availability on Wednesday, March 10 at 10:30 a.m. to mark a major milestone in Duschl’s chain of love. Jim Pattison Jr., President of Ripley Entertainment, will sign the three-millionth link in the chain. The full gum wrapper chain will be on display.

“This is a remarkable feat and a true Believe It or Not!” said Pattison. “The amount of effort and attention to detail that has gone into this is amazing.”

Duschl started creating the record-breaking chain a few years ago – when LBJ was President, TV was mostly in black and white and a band named the Beatles was gaining in popularity. He started in 1965. Duschl was in ninth grade science class when he saw kids making gum wrapper chains. He made his first link that day and one link led to another. He wanted to make the longest chain in the class, then the longest in the school, then the longest in town and he never gave up. He stuck with it – for the next 45 years.

Visitors to the Ripley’s Times Square Odditorium can check out Duschl’s chain for themselves on Wednesday, March 10. Duschl will hold chain-making demonstrations for the public from 1-5 p.m.

Chance to Become Part of Ripley History

The public can be a part of this historic event. Everyone is welcome to visit the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Times Square Odditorium from Wednesday, March 10 through Sunday, March 14 and sign a gum wrapper that will be sent to Duschl who will use it as part of his chain.

Ripley’s visitors who bring in 5 gum wrappers of any sort will get a $5 discount off the price of admission ($4 off for children) from Wednesday, March 10 through Sunday, March 14.

Duschl, from Virginia, started creating the record-breaking chain a few years ago – when LBJ was President, TV was mostly in black and white and a band named the Beatles was gaining in popularity. He started in 1965.

There are 1,500,000 gum wrappers in the chain and all are Wrigley’s brand.  Duschl doesn’t chew much gum; he’s really in it for the wrappers.

“It’s something that I can do in the comfort of my home. I find it therapeutic to sit down and weave a chain the same way someone would sit down and knit something,” Duschl said. He knows exactly where he wants to go with his chain – another 14 miles, straight ahead. That would make it the length of a marathon at 26.2 miles, give or take a few hundred wrappers. That’s probably another 15 years away, when he’ll be in his mid-70s.

For more on Gary Duschl, go to www.gumwrapper.com

Media contacts:

Tim O’Brien
VP Communications
Ripley Entertainment Inc.
Office – 615-646-7465
Cell – 615-496-5949
Obrien@ripleys.com

Michael Hirsch
General Manager
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Times Square
212-398-3133
michael@ripleysnewyork.com

About Ripley Entertainment Inc

Ripley Entertainment Inc. (www.ripleys.com), keepers of the venerable Ripley’s Believe It or Not! brand, is a global leader in location-based entertainment, entertaining more than 13 million annually at its 70-plus attractions in 13 countries.  In addition to its 31 Believe It or Not! museums, the Orlando, Florida-based company has publishing, licensing and broadcast divisions that oversee projects including the syndicated Believe It or Not! television show, best-selling books and the popular syndicated cartoon strip, Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, that still runs daily in 42 countries. Ripley Entertainment is a Jim Pattison Company, the third-largest privately held company in Canada.

About  Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Times Square

Situated in the heart of Times Square in Manhattan, New York, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! offers visitors the ultimate insight into the world of the odd and bizarre. Hundreds of weird and unusual artifacts are displayed in more than 20 themed galleries spanning two floors. Whether examining a six-legged cow, a lock of Elvis’ hair, 24 shrunken heads (the most on public display anywhere on the planet), a section of the Berlin wall, or a life-size albino giraffe, the amazing Ripley’s Believe It or Not! collection proves that fact is indeed stranger than fiction. Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Times Square (www.ripleysnewyork.com) is located at 234 West 42^nd Street and is open daily at 9 a.m.