Virginia Beach man's world record gum wrapper chain, 23 miles long and growing, a 60-year obsession
Gary Duschl has always been a collector.
Inside his Virginia Beach residence, small dog and cat statues sit upon most of the surfaces. Dozens of antique glass bottles line some of his shelves. By the time he was 25, he had traveled across the United States to collect all of the Superman comics.
But Duschl's greatest collection sticks out.
For the past 60 years, Duschl has chained together more than 2.9 million gum wrappers into a single chain. Each wrapper is ripped in two, folded six times, and then inserted into another.
The chain, which is held in 21 plexiglass display cases inside its own special room, is just over 23 miles, or 122,066 feet. That's three times longer than the Tide light rail. It's also 407 football fields, four Mount Everests and 83 Empire State Buildings. If walking at a leisurely pace, Duschl estimated it would take about eight hours to cover the chain's length.
Though he doesn't chew gum anymore, Duschl doesn't need to ask friends and family for their post-chew trash. He's often sent wrappers directly from Wrigley, and gum enthusiasts around the world have sent their wrappers, as well.
Now in his 70s, Duschl has no interest in stopping. Duschl weaves about 5½ feet of new wrapper chain — the height of his wife — a night while watching television.
'These are the only tools I use,' Duschl said, wriggling his fingers.
On Tuesday, land surveyors from Precision Measurements Inc. were at Duschl's home to update his world record with the Guinness Book of World Records. The team started at 8:30 a.m. and spent several hours validating the chain's length, measuring 1,000-foot chunks every 19 minutes.
'I've surveyed bridges, tunnels, nothing like this. This is very different,' said Chris Taylor, one of the surveyors. 'It's unbelievable.'
With Taylor on one end of the upstairs hall and Ivan Lineberry, another surveyor, on the other, they used a binder clip to mark every 25 feet of gum wrappers, followed by a pink flag every 1,000 feet.
Specifically, surveyors were only measuring Duschl's last five years of chain, since he had it last measured for the world record in 2020. This year also marks the 60th year of the chain's existence, so Duschl wanted to officially commemorate the benchmark. The previous record, set in 1994 by a Washington woman, was only 7,400 feet, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
'I was just doing it because I like doing it,' he said of folding the wrappers. 'One day, my wife and I went into the Niagara Falls Ripley's Believe It or Not, and they had (a chain) all over the ceiling. It said 'giant gum wrapper chain.' My wife touched me, and she said, 'You better do something about that.''
Duschl said he met with one of the Ripley's administrators shortly after to discuss his own gum wrapper chain. At the time, Duschl said his gum wrapper chain was much more moveable, so he brought it to the meeting to potentially have it displayed.
'I showed it to him, and he said, 'That's impressive, but there is a Guinness record that's longer than your chain,'' Duschl recalled. 'I just went crazy. Now, the work is on.'
Like a tangible timeline, the chain showcases the passage of time for the Wrigley brand. Gum-related posters and Wrigley advertisements cover the wall, and large cases hold cups, buttons and even a pack of Juicy Fruit from 1895. Inside the room's closet, boxes full of gum wrappers directly from Wrigley wait to be added to the chain. Over the years, Duschl said the quality of wrapper has gotten much better for folding, making for a stronger chain.
Duschl's chain has been featured on TV shows and in dozens of record and oddity-related books (another collection of his). He receives partial chains of wrappers from around the world, but he prefers to claim full ownership wrappers.
'I enjoy doing it, and we'll keep doing it until I reach my next goal, which is the marathon length (of 26.2 miles),' Duschl said. 'That's going to take three more miles, and this last three miles took me five years, but I am slowing down. I just don't go as fast as they used to anymore, but the record is in sight.'
Eliza Noe, eliza.noe@virginiamedia.com
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