The History of Bubble Gum
It may not offer much in terms of nutrition, but bubble gum is a huge seller throughout the world as a snack. The National Association of Gum Manufacturers reports that American children, alone, annually spend about half a billion dollars on bubble gum, and a wide variety of different types of this gum are manufactured worldwide.
When the Greek civilization created the earliest chewing gum from the Turkish mastic tree's resin, no one could realize that this would evolve into a bubble-making derivative that has continued in popularity for nearly a century.
Earliest History
Chewing gum, as it is known today, was developed in the latter half of the 1800s. Mexican General, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, a participant in the Alamo, told Thomas Adams about the substance called "chicle" from the sapota or sapodilla trees. When Adams heard about this elastic product, he believed it would make a more economical material for automobile tires. The tires were never produced, but Adams patented his own New York Chewing Gum in 1869.
Walter Diemer's Invention
In 1928, Walter Diemer, an accountant at the Fleer Chewing Gum Company by day and inventor by night, created a less sticky and more stretchy gum. Better yet, the gum chewer could actually use the gum to blow bubbles. The invention was called and advertised as "Dubble Bubble" gum. This pink bubble gum became the standard for the chewing gum industry until present times.
Bazooka Gum
Before World War II, the Shorin brothers from Brooklyn, N.Y., started a company called Topps Chewing Gum. After the war, Topps began producing bubble gum. They called their single-piece bubble gum "Bazooka" like the musical instrument. "Bazooka Joe" comic strips were featured on the gum wrapper. Bazooka continues to be one of the top income earners of all time.
Topps Baseball Gum
Topps then started putting a trading card into each bubble gum package to sell more product. The first ones were based on "Hopalong Cassidy," the television and movie cowboy, "Frank Buck 'Bring 'em Back Alive' " African game hunts, and All-American football cards. In the beginning of the 1950s, the creative WWII veteran Sy Berger, who loved baseball, created the first baseball cards, which had the player's picture, team logo, statistics and playing record. This started a whole new trend.
Collectible Cards
In the 1990s,Topps was already promoting dozens of different collectible cards. These cards have become so valuable that many of them are now displayed in art museums and sports halls of fame. The older and rarer cards are often auctioned off for high amounts and traded at special shows.
Bubble Gum and American Culture
Bubble gum has become an integral part of American culture. Over the years, there have been scores of bubble-gum-blowing contests; many different gum offshoots, such as bubble-gum pops and bubble-gum-flavored jelly beans and ice cream; bubble-gum wrapper collectors; and Guinness bubble-blowing world records. Susan Montgomery Williams, who blew a 23-inch bubble, has held the record for 28 years. There is even an award for the largest bubble-gum bubble blown from a person's nose!
