The History of Chewing Gum

Chewing Gum

Popular confection began as a not-so-sweet treat from trees
Raychelle Burks

GUM, PERHAPS the world's oldest confection, began as an edible treat from trees. Although far less sweet than today's gums, a chewy tree sap called mastiche was a favorite of the ancient Greeks. Its name derived from the Greek word mastichan meaning "to chew."

On the other side of the world, the Mayans enjoyed chewing on tsictle, the sap of the sapodilla tree (Manilkara zapot). Farther north, Native Americans living in what is now New England enjoyed the sap of spruce trees (Picea genus). Spruce-sap chewing gums were first brought to the U.S. market in the mid-1800s by entrepreneur John Curtis, who sold small sticks of "Maine Pure Spruce Gum."

Spruce-sap-based gums were later replaced by those made with petroleum-derived paraffin wax. Gum makers added sugar to their paraffin gums to increase their sweetness. Such gums were sweet but not chewy enough. For the right level of chewiness, gum makers turned to an old favorite: tree sap. The Mayans' tsictle-called "chicle" in the U.S.—came to dominate the gum market.

Chicle's victory in the U.S. gum market was inadvertently catalyzed by Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, of Alamo fame. Credited with bringing chicle to the U.S. while in exile from Mexico, Santa Anna hoped chicle would replace that other famous tree sap-rubber. Rubber, from the Para rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis), was growing into its own booming business involving everything from tubes to tires, and the general had hoped chicle could muscle in on some of the markets.

Using chicle from Santa Anna's stash, another American inventor, Thomas Adams, proved chicle was no substitute for rubber. However, Adams and his sons found that heating chicle with sugar and flavor yielded a gum superior to paraffin-based predecessors. Chicle gum in hand, Adams got a patent for a gum manufacturing machine and founded Adams Sons & Co. in the 1870s. Americans were soon chewing Blackjack, the first flavored gum.

Blackjack gum consisted of three major ingredients: gum base, sugar, and licorice flavoring. Gum's basic recipe—base, sweetener, and flavoring—remains unchanged. It is used by modern manufacturers including Cadbury Adams (as Adams' company is now known) and Wrigley, among others. Although the recipe has not changed, the base has. Like spruce sap and paraffin before it, even the sapodilla-derived chicle was fated for replacement. It was World War II that did it in.

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Last Edited by SPUD on 06/14/2012 02:00 PM