Chew On This: The History Of Gum

Like a lot of things, gum was much simpler in the old days. And while I always prided myself on my ability to chew with my mouth closed, I generally steered clear of gum. The choices, years ago, were few, as I recall: There was bubble gum, which meant either Bazooka (rock hard, with a strange, waxy comic featuring a turtle-necked Bazooka Joe) or the flat, baseball-card variety; Doublemint (“two, two, two mints in one”); or Gold Rush, which looked liked nuggets of gold, and came in a small cloth, drawstring bag. Those were the choices.

And a pack of gum was cheap—like five cents cheap. You could chew a stick of gum for a few minutes, get off a few cracks, and figure you got your money’s worth. Now, given the price of gum, you have to consider if the time and place is right. Are you chewing with an appropriate person? Is this a cool place to be chewing gum? Don’t get me started.

And then there is: Going To The Dentist…

You might guess it’s a custom dreamed up by a modern-day, real-life Willy Wonka, but people have been chewing gum, in various forms, since ancient times.