Gum Wrapper Chain Almost Two Miles Long

Gum Wrapper Chain Almost Two Miles Long AG WORLD Ag World 21-2-19 Seven years ago Leo Franzen started making a gum wrapper chain, folding and weaving wrappers together one at a time. Ever since then he's been patiently at work, and his wrapper chain now measures nearly two miles long at 10,000 ft. "It's not a world record but I'm closing in on it," says Franzen, a barber from West Union, Iowa. "The record is held by a Canadian man who has a chain that's 12,105 ft. long. I expect to beat his record within two years." Franzen has been interviewed by more than 35 different radio stations and has also appeared on national TV. His chain is stored on two wooden spools. Each new gum wrapper adds a quarter inch of length to the chain. He cuts the wrap-per in half and folds it down as he weaves it onto the chain. It takes about 2 1/2 hours to make one foot. He estimates he has cut and folded al-most a half million wrappers. "I chewed a lot of the gum but not all of it," says Franzen. "Friends, relatives, and customers of my barbershop chewed a lot of it, too. People from all over send wrappers to me, and our local Super Value grocery store even has a gum wrapper drop box for its customers." He got started when he saw a 182-ft. chain made by another West Union man, Tom Sullivan. Franzen says he currently only has a very small supply of wrappers and is looking for more. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Leo Franzen, 108 N. Wells St., West Union, Iowa 52175 (ph 319 422-3834).

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