The Gum Museum, Quartzsite, AZ

Today we thought it would be fun to visit the gum museum with Flat Hayden. Yep, you heard me correctly...the gum museum! This museum had its beginnings some 60 years ago when Joanne Brunet (that's her with Ed and Flat Hayden in the picture on the left) and her sister started collecting gum at a very young age. Joanne says that they would save tax tokens and when they got 5 tokens, they'd buy a pack of Wrigley gum. They'd each take 2 pieces and save one for their collection. Joanne inherited her sister's half of the collection back in 1953, and she now has over 4,000 packs of gum! We had the pleasure of meeting and talking to Joanne and she was so excited to show us her collection! She even took a few pictures with Flat Hayden and loved the idea that her picture and story would travel to Topeka, KS with Flat Hayden!

Joanne has collected gum not only from the USA, but from 28 other parts of the world. Her museum is located in a 600 square foot building that her husband built in the back of their house and on display is just about every kind of gum that was ever made through the years, including one of the oldest..a 1932 Wrigley's Doublement. Some of the gums include 1960s trading card sets, 1970s Kiss (the band), 1980s miniature album covers like Pat Benatar, and 1990s packs that look like CDs and cassettes.


Joanne told us how friends, family and strangers often send her different packs of gum to add to her collection. In particular, she's looking for a pack of John Curtis gum...America's first chewing gum manufacturer in 1848. But she loves recieving gum from all over the world! So if you come across an interesting pack of gum that you think she'd like to add to her collection, give her a call first to see if she has it at 928-927-7566 and if she doesn't, mail it to: Gum Collection, Joanne Brunet, PO Box 3295, Quartzsite, AZ 85359, along with your name, address, where you got it from, etc. (Vera, I told her that you were in Thailand and maybe you could pick up a pack from there...she was thrilled! I've added a picture of the packs she already has from Thailand).


I've also added a few more pictures of a Quartzsite sunset. Last night Ed climbed up on top of the RV so there wouldn't be any obstacles blocking the sun...he did a great job!

More later!