History of Chewing Gum

  • Prehistoric Man – 9,000-year-old birch bark tarold birch bark tar

  • Ancient Greece – Mastic Tree Resin (Mastiche)

  • Mayan Indians – Sapodilla Tree Sap  (Chicle) 

  • Native American Indians – Spruce Tree Resin

  • 1848 – John Curtis – St. of Maine Pure Spruce Gum

  • 1850 – John Curtis – Flavored Paraffin Gum

  • 1867 – Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna meets Thomas Adams Sr. “Chicle”

  • 1869 – Thomas Adams markets “New York Chewing Gum”

  • 1870 – Adams produces first flavored gum (licorice), which was also the first stick of chewing gum

  • 1871 – Adams patents first gum making machine

  • 1879 – William White discovers how to flavor chicle - choosing peppermint as the first flavor named Yucatan chewing gum

  • 1882 – Dr. Edward Beeman adds pepsin powder to chicle & promotes as digestive aid 

  • 1886 – Jonathan Primely makes the first fruit-flavored gum and a gum called Kis-Me

  • 1888 – Adams “Tutti Frutti” becomes first chewing gum in vending machine.
    Placed in NYC subway stations.

  • 1890s – Gum vending machines become popular

  • 1897 – Pulver adds animated figures

  • 1891 – William Wrigley Jr. entered the gum the Vassar, Lotta & Sweet 16 brands.

  • 1892 – Wrigley introduces Spearmint Pepsin gum

  • 1893 – Wrigley introduces Juicy Fruit gum.

  • 1911 – Gum added to Beech--Nut product line 

  • 1890 – Henry Fleer invents Chiclets 
    - Chiclets was the first candy-coated chewing commercially made and marketed in the gum commercially made and marketed in the world

  • 1899 – Dentyne gum was created by NewYork druggist Franklin V. Canning

  • 1899 – American Chicle Company Formed

  • Amalgamation of:  Adams Gum (Thomas Adams), Yucatan Gum (William White), Beeman’s Gum (Dr. Edward Yucatan Gum (William White), Beeman’s Gum (Dr. Edward Beeman), KisBeeman), Kis-Me Gum (Jonathan Primley), and S.T. Britten.Me Gum (Jonathan Primley), and S.T. Britten.

  • 1907 – Gumballs and gumball machines introduced 

  • 1914 – Wrigley introduces Doublemint gum 

  • 1914 – Adams introduces Clove gum

  • 1914 – American Chicle Company buys Sen-Sen Company (Fleer, Curtis, etc.)

  • 1916 – American Chicle Co. acquires Dentyne Gum

  • 1920 – Clark Bros. Chewing Gum Co. Clark Bros. Chewing Gum Co.

  • 1927 – Wrigley introduces PK Gum - Discontinued in 1975

  • 1928 – Walter Diemer (Fleer Gum Co.) invents Bubble Gum
    Christened Dubble Bubble Gum  

  • 1930s – Gum trading Cards Introduced

  • 1933 – Peter Paul Co. sells a charcoal gum - advertise on Mounds box

  • 1939 – The FFDCA Act - Classifies gum as a food Classifies gum as a food
    - FDA tells gum companies they do not need to list ingredients like other foods

  • 1939 – The Doublemint Twins make debut debut

  • 1938 – Shorin Bros. begin Topps Company

  • Topps Bubble Gum becomes first change maker change maker  

  • After WW II Bazooka Bubble Gum becomes popular

  • 1944 – Wrigley takes Doublemint, Juicy Fruit and Spearmint gum off the market Due to war rationing of raw materials 
    - To protect quality and reputation of gums
    - Wrigley markets Orbit as wartime gum

  • During WWII US military spread the popularity of chewing gum to Europe, Asia, Africa and around the world.

  • 1946 – Wrigley reintroduces Spearmint and Juicy Fruit

  • 1947 – Wrigley reintroduces Doublemint

  • 1950 – Harvey’s Sugarless Gum Debuted

  • Artificial sweetener Cyclamate introduced - 1970 – Cyclamate banned in U.S 

  • William Wrigley Jr. 1862-1932 - “Chewing Gum King of Kings”

  • Two sticks of gum with each can of baking soda

  • One can of baking soda with each bar of soap

  • 1891 – Wm. Wrigley moves to Chicago to sell family soap

  • Wrigley sells only gum but with premiums

  • 1907 – Wrigley designs spear-like grinning gnome

  • 1911 – Wrigley buys Zeno Manufacturing Co.

  • 1915 – Wrigley introduces “Mother Goose” to the children of the World six to 60”

  • 1915 – Wrigley mails three sticks of gum to everyone listed in telephone directories (1.5m)

  • 1919 – Wrigley repeats sending gum to everyone listed in directories (7million)

  • Wrigley mailed two sticks of gum to 750,000 22-year-olds every year on their birthdays.
     

  • At one time during the early 1900s each of the 62,200 street and subway train cars in America carried a Wrigley’s poster

  • 1919 – Wrigley Purchases Santa Catalina Island
     

  • 1920 – Wrigley Building in 1924 in Chicago