From vendors to visitors, to musical performers and a divisive gum wall, Pike Place Market offers a collection of Western Washington culture and history under one roof.
If you’re visiting or new to the area, it’s likely one of your first stops. Or you might take family visiting from out of state.
KNKX is currently moving into our new Seattle location across the street from the Market. So, our news team has been exploring stories in and around the iconic location that you can hear as part of our KNKX Connects to Pike Place Market project.
As the newest residents of the Seattle area, All Things Considered Host Emil Moffatt and Producer Freddy Monares were tasked with taking a fresh look at the Market and compiling this audio postcard to kick off the series.
Click "Listen" above to hear the audio postcard and read on for highlights.
First Impressions
Monares: What’s your favorite thing in the market?
Moffatt: The old signs and the old architecture, it just makes you feel like something that’s from the past, but still very usable and utilitarian to people today. Yeah, it’s extraordinarily unique to Seattle.
Monares: I feel like it’s a little bit too like a piece of artwork that’s functional. You kind of think of it as a little bit of a tourist trap, but then you try the produce and smoked salmon, and it’s like 'holy cow, this is really good.'
Moffatt: Yeah, it’s like walking into a photo or postcard.
‘The sense of community is amazing’
The market is quirky. Hundreds of vendors are tucked into every corner of the building and outside of it as well. Some estimates say more than 10 million people visit the historic site every year.
There’s a stand that catches our attention selling pepper jelly with flavors like beer, hot pomegranate and wine jelly. A neon sign in the booth reads, “Gotta try it. From totally mild to extremely hot.”
Chick Whitmore is getting his day started and looking to catch people’s attention. And he’s got a few tricks up his sleeve.
“So to get people to come up to the stand, I just do like normal hawking. I'm like, 'Hey, we got free samples here.' I also like to, if I see someone wearing certain sports jerseys, I make a pun based on that. Like ‘you see it, I 'Hawk it. We got 26 flavors of jellies’ and stuff like that."
Whitmore started at the job in August and says the community among the vendors at the market is strong and unlike any other.
That’s a sentiment Christopher Weber echoes.
“I mean, everybody here knows each other. This is like, honestly, this is my life. Like, all my friends are here," Weber said. "The sense community is amazing. Like, and I just get to be...I feel like I get to be a part of, you know, Seattle history.”
Weber works at a produce stand on a sidewalk across the brick road from the market’s main building. He stands behind rows of yellow, red and green fruits.
He says the market is a melting pot and requires patience.
"Patience is a big part of it. I got to have a lot of patience because, you know, I deal with people who don't speak English so well or, you know, just different culture. So you have to learn how to deal with that. And that's another beautiful part is I've learned a lot about different cultures and whatnot."
Down the road from the produce stand a line has formed outside what is considered the original Starbucks.
“It's the one to take off our bucket list,” said Roli Cariazo from Scotland, who, along with her wife, were in Seattle celebrating their 10-year anniversary. They said they were in line for a macchiato, but didn’t expect the coffee to be that much different from home. Instead, they were looking for unique Starbucks souvenirs.
“It has to be something different from my colleagues. So we'll be bragging about it in the hospital,” Cariazo said. “We're both nurses at the hospital.”
Cariazo said she and her wife love coming to the market whenever they’re in Seattle.
“I must say, the people are lovely. And it is something that a traveler from anywhere, any part of the world must check out. It's one of the best places. It's multicultural as well. And you've got everything all in one place.”
‘This is a whole gum alley!’
Everything in one place, including an alley with walls caked with gum.
We spoke with a couple from Texas who had just experienced the gum wall for the first time. They were visiting family and were told they had to come see it.
“Oh my gosh, it’s nasty. I think the gum wall is ok, it’s when you see all the drooping gum balls. I think that’s what kind of gets you in the stomach just a little bit,” the man said.
“I didn't realize it was more of an alley, I thought it was just a wall. But this is a whole gum alley,” added the woman.
While at the gum wall, we caught up with Benjamin Cassidy, senior editor of Seattle Met, who tracked down an oral history of how gum got stuck everywhere.
“There’s just sort of this usual slime on the wall that either attracts or repels people to this place," he said.
Cassidy said in the 1990s, an improv group moved into the market theater. People would line up inside the alley to get into the theater. And, naturally, people started to adhere gum to the walls of the alley and stick pennies in the gum.
And it took off. Some people liked it, others didn’t.
“The market has had a sort of complicated relationship with the wall,” Cassidy said.
At one point, they took down the gum wall. Only to have it pop back up and people have been feeding into it ever since.
‘Like being on world tour’
No trip to the market wouldn’t be complete without stopping for a moment to catch a performance by a busker.
Back inside the historic building, local musicians rotate through several spots. The chords they play carry throughout the building and add to the atmosphere.
Greg Paul was strumming his banjo in an area known as "the cave."
“There's always people at Pike Place,” Paul said. “ Of course, it slows down in the wintertime. With summertime, it's just a zoo down here. So, I mean, you're going to play for lots of people. But many of them may not pay attention to you.
Paul said that’s what he likes about performing at the market – you never know how people are going to react. He loves that his music can reach a global audience.
“Well, it's kind of like being on world tour without having to go on. Go around the world, right? You get people here from everywhere, which is great. So there's lots of diversity. I love that.”
KNKX Connects is an ongoing series showcasing the people and places of our diverse and vibrant region. Your support helps KNKX connect listeners throughout Western Washington, presenting a much deeper look at the place we call home. Donate to this vital community service today.
