Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Chewing Gum
Just about everyone loves the taste of chewing gum , but what do you know about the history of this sweet treat? While the history of this favorite candy is in some doubt, there is at least some evidence that it goes at least as far back as ancient Greece, when a substance made from the resin of the Mastic Tree was chewed.
We also know that Native Americans on the North American continent chewed on a substance they derived from the resin of the Spruce tree. The Native American peoples continued to enjoy this practice at least until the early 19 th century, and this practice has been widely credited as one of the first modern instances of chewing gum.
By late in the 19 th century, paraffin, and edible wax, was introduced to chewing gum, replacing the pine resin that the Native Americans had relied on. Although paraffin was not used in chewing gum manufacture for very long, the tradition of using wax as a candy ingredient lives on today, with such examples as wax pop bottles and wax lips.
These days the manufacture of chewing gum is quite standardized, and regardless of the flavor all chewing gums will consist of the same basic ingredients. The base of the gum is generally made using polyvinyl acetate, wax or even rubber byproducts. The remainder of the gum consists of an amalgamation of various sugars and corn syrups, as well as flavoring and a variety of artificial colors.
To make the chewing bum, the base is first melted into a soluble liquid, and them combined with the colorings, sweeteners and flavorings.
The one exception to this rule is bubble gum, which is made from a base consisting of rubber latex to give it its classic elasticity and allow all those wonderful bubbles to be blown.
The earliest commercial chewing gums were quite a challenge to chew at times, and their flavor tended to last only a short time. As this treat become more popular, the gum manufacturers began to experiment with a number of new flavors and with a number of new formulations to make the flavor last longer and make the gum easier to chew. A number of new flavors and liquid centers were added as well.
The coming of what we know as modern chewing gum has been widely attributed to a Mexican General by the name of Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana, who would later go on to infamy as part of the battle of the Alamo.
After he was exiled from Mexico, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana introduced Thomas Adams Sir to a substance known as Chicle, which is derived from the Sopota or Saodilla tree. Adams wanted to use this elastic ingredient as a way to find a more economic way to manufacture automobile tires.
Even though that economical tire substitute never came to fruition, in the end the general would create one of, if not the first, chewing gum to be mass marketed. This gum was known as Adams New York Chewing Gum, and the first patent for chewing gum was awarded in 1869, even though Adams would not create the first chewing gum assembly line until two years later in 1871.
In 1880, a man by the name of William White combined Chicle with corn syrup, added some peppermint extract and created the first flavored chewing gum, known as Yucatan. During the same period, Dr. Edward Beeman added pepsin powder to create a gum that could be used as a digestive aid. This creation, known of course as Beeman’s Chewing Gum, is still available today.
During the years that followed, chewing gum became an important part of the American culture, and this unique food is widely credited with the growth of the vending machine industry. Even today, chewing gum sales account for a significant portion of vending machine sales.
In the year 1893, the Chicago based William Wrigley Company introduced two new styles of chewing gum, Wrigley’s Spearmint and Juicy Fruits. Even today these two chewing gums are among the best selling on the market.
With the rise of Wrigley’s, the Yucatan Gum, Adams Gum, Beeman’s Gum and Kiss Me Gum manufacturers attempted to compete by combining into the American Chicle Company in 1899.
Also in 1899, a dentist known by the name Franklin Canning introduced Dentyne Gum and later in that same year Chiclets Gum was introduced. Both of these chewing gums are still available today and both remain very popular with chewing gum lovers.
This fascinating and highly competitive industry saw little additional change until 1914, when the William Wrigley Jr. Company would introduce Doublemint Gum. That same year Thomas Adams would introduce Adam’s Clove Gum, a special treat that remains a favorite “retro” candy even today.
The American Chicle Company went on to purchase the company that had invented the Chiclet, and later went on to acquire the Dentyne Copmany as well.
In 1928, a man named Walter Diemer, who worked as an accountant for the Fleer Gum company, created the first formula for a bubble gum. Chewing gum companies had long been searching for a formula that would allow bubbles to be blown, while at the same time resisting the sticking that had doomed earlier efforts. Many had searched, but Diemer was the one who succeeded, much to the delight of bubble gum lovers everywhere.
