South Carolina Teacher ‘Wraps’ Her Way To Guiness World Record
Sometimes you just have no idea what will become from something started on a whim. Take for example, Greenville, South Carolina, teacher Elizabeth Allen. When Elizabeth was a student at Furman University, she started folding “Starburst” candy wrappers into a chain. The candy was provided by a professor. Flash forward four years and now Elizabeth Allen holds the Guiness World Record for the “Largest Candy Wrapper Chain.”
No one achieves success like this alone and Elizabeth Allen is no exception. Apparently other students caught sight of what she was doing and began to freely donate their discarded wrappers to her chain.
Wait, contribution and construction continued post-graduation as well. Kinda makes her world record sound like she was working on a Masters Degree, but whatever. During her first two years of teaching, her students passed along their wrappers as well. Granted, Elizabeth Allen did prime her own pump a bit. She tells UPI, “As a reward or to help students stay awake during a longer day, I would share Starbursts and they were so careful to not rip the wrappers.”
And I know you’re wondering, “How big does a candy wrapper chain have to be to become world-record worth?” I thought you’d never ask. The finished chain is made up from more than 10,000 Starburst wrappers. However, come to find out, construction and maintenance of structural integrity is not as easy as one might think.
Once the chain had more than 500 wrappers, Allen discovered the chain could not support its own weight. No problem, that’s why Target and Wal Mart sell large plastic containers. Thus, Elizabeth Allen’s record-breaking chain now had a vessel for transportation to keep from it breaking.
Okay, so you’ve worked for four years to build this chain. More than 10,000 wrappers from who knows how many contributors who endured who knows how many cavities have created this world record candy wrapper chain. Where do you keep it? For posterity has it found a home in a museum somewhere?
Nah, Elizabeth Allen’s Guiness World Record Candy Wrapper Chain is a featured decoration of her classroom.
Education alumna Elizabeth Allen '20 M'22 scores a Guinness World Record and a couple of mentions in media outlets for her chain fashioned from 10,000 @Starburst candy wrappers. https://t.co/CtTnwDnCmV @GWR @Mars @Furman_Alumni @FurmanU @gcschools
— Furman University News (@FurmanNews) July 8, 2022
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