Happy Bubble Gum Day!
Bubble gum goes back 9,000 years to the Northern Europeans who would chew birch for enjoyment or medicinal reasons. Ancient Mayans chewed "chicle" from the sapodilla tree to quench their thirst or to fight hunger. They had some strange rules to their chicle chewing. Kids and single women could chew all they wanted in public, but if you were a married woman or widow, then you would have to chew in the privacy of your own home. Men could only chew their chicle in secret. Kinda like how Moms enjoy their cupcakes sitting on the pantry floor in the middle of the night.
Back here on the North American front, Native Americans would chew resin from the spruce tree. In the 1840's, John Curtis boiled the resin down, cut it into strips and dusted it with corn starch making the first stick of gum. In the early 1850's, Curtis took his idea to another level and built the first gum factory in Portland, Maine. Not only did the resin become brittle the longer it was chewed, but didn't taste that great. Curtis changed over to paraffin wax.
In New York, Thomas Adams was procuring chicle through the Mexican president, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Santa Anna was trying to develop a substitute for rubber. Although the rubber idea failed, the chicle made for a better chewing gum. In the late 1800's, gum was being sold across the country with chicle being the main ingredient until it was replaced with synthetic products in the mid-19oo's.
Then came William Wrigley Jr. He was a soap salesman. In 1891, he moved to Chicago and he would offer free baking soda with his soap as incentives for stores to stock his product. Well, soon the baking soda turned out to be bigger than the soap so then he started to offer free gum. In 1893, Wrigley launched two new brands of gum - Juicy Fruit and Spearmint. He relied heavily on self-promotion to move his product and in 1915 began going through the phonebook (remember those?) and sending everyone a free sample. He even offered sticks of gum to kids on their 2nd birthdays.
Also, moving around in the gum circles was Frank Fleer who had been making gum since 1885. He was looking for something different and in 1906 came up with Blibber Blubber, but it was too sticky. Finally, an employee, Walter Diemer, successfully came up with a good recipe for bubble gum and an old friend was born - Double Bubble.
Gum continues to be a childhood and adult favorite. It keeps our teeth clean, freshens our breath and even helps us stop smoking! Gums have come and gone. I remember Hubba Bubba that didn't stick to anything including hair which was great for those of us in the 70's with long hair. Then there was Freshen Up gum - "The gum that goes squirt" and Orbit - "Dirty mouth? Clean It Up!". Double your fun with Doublemint gum? LOL So grab a stick and chew away and think of all the poor fellows who had to endure years of spruce tree resin and chicle!
