It is not clear what it says about people that we have always found something to chew on, but at least we are consistent. Ancient Greeks chewed tree resin, as did Mayans and Native Americans. Archaeologists have found tree resin with teeth marks in it that date back more than 5,000 years in Finland and Sweden.
Early settlers were taught how to chew gum by Native Americans, and the Curtis family in Maine began harvesting spruce resin and selling it for a penny each in 1848. The Curtis family invented the modern form of chewing gum, which they named "The State of Maine Pure Spruce Gum," by adding flavor to make it tastier and paraffin to make it softer.
Dentist William Semple got a patent for his chewing gum formula in 1869, which consisted of rubber, sugar, licorice, and charcoal. Yummy. However, he never sold his gum on the mainstream market, leaving New Yorker Thomas Adams plenty of room.
With the start of the American importation of chicle, a sap harvested from the sapodilla tree in the rain forests of Central America, the gum industry evolved yet again. Adams tried to make rain boots and toys using chicle as a substitute for rubber. Later, he simply spiced some chicle and called it "Adams New York Gum No 1 - Snapping and Stretching." and his gum became the first mass-produced chewing gum. Today, Black Jack is still available.
The demand for chicle soon outstripped suppliers' capacity, so gum makers began to use paraffin and rubber as alternatives.
Next up is the first big name in chewing gum history: William Wrigley, Jr. When Wrigley was selling scouring products at the time, he saw the huge potential in chewing gum, and he used his deft marketing skills to make a name for himself and his company—introduced Wrigley Spearmint Gum in 1893. While there were 12 other gum companies in the United States. None rose to fame as much as the Wrigley brand, in part because of tactics like placing a flashing billboard advertisement over Times Square.
By the early 20th century, chewing gum was widely popular and fiercely competitive. With the advent of new manufacturing technology, gum began to appear on American store shelves and innovations continued to flourish. Fleer Chewing Gum's accountant accidentally created a batch of gum that was different from the rest, a recipe that became bubble gum. Dubble Bubble is the recipe that Fleer introduced to the world.
There is now sugarless gum, organic gum, all-natural gum, bubble gum, and chewing gum available in various flavors and colors. Recently, Wrigley secured a patent for biodegradable gum. We have all your favorites here, so you can enjoy shopping knowing that by chewing on a piece of gum, you are continuing a very, very old tradition.
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