Facts About Gum

  1. During WW1, US military personnel spread the popularity of chewing gum by trading it and giving it as gifts to people in Europe, Africa, Asia and around the world.
  2. The first patent for chewing gum was issued in 1869 to William F. Semple, a dentist from Mount Vernon, Ohio.
  3. Did you know that their are more than 1,000 varieties of gum manufactured and sold in the Untied States.
  4. Cinnamon, Spearmint, and Peppermint are the most popular flavors of gum.
  5. Do you know why gum is pink? The color of the first successful bubble gum was pink because it was the only color the inventor had left. The color "Stuck" and today bubble gum is still mostly pink.
  6. North America kids spend approximately half a billion dollars on bubble gum every year.
  7. The largest bubble ever blown was 23 inches in diameter. The record was set on July 19, 1994 by Susan Montgomery Willams of Fresno California.
  8. Tips for getting gum unstuck from clothing: try scraping off any excess gum with a dull knife and then rubbing the area with ice until the remaining gum rolls off into a ball.
  9. We've done the impossible and now, you can try it to! We've done all this while blowing a bubble. Smiling through your teeth, frowning, laughing, out of the bottom of your mouth, side of your mouth, top of your mouth, while kissing something, and while blowing your nose.
  10. How gum is made.
    • The gum's ingredients are melted and filtered.
    • Powered sugar, glucose syrup, flavoring and the other ingredients are slowly added to the gum base until the warm mix thickness like dough.
    • Machines called extruders are used to blend, smooth, and form the gum.
    • It's time for gum to be shaped. Gum can be flattened and cut into sticks, or squeezed into a rope shape and cut into chunks, or molded into shapes, and candy coated.
    • After the gum is cut or molded into the appropriate shape, it's lightly sprinkled with powdered sweetener to keep it from sticking to machinery.
    • In carefully temperature controlled room, the gum is cooled for up to 48 hours. This allows the gum to properly set.
    • If the gum is candy coated, like most gum balls or pellet gum, it's sprayed again. This process is repeated several times until the candy shell reaches the proper thickness.
  11. Some cool facts about gum from the past. Ancient Greeks chewed a gum like substance called mastic. Women especially liked gum because it cleaned their teeth and it exercised their jaw muscles.
  12. The longest gum wrapper chain on record was 7,400 feet in length and was made by Cathy Ushler of Redmond, WA between 1969-1992.
  13. Remember, blowing bubbles takes lots of time and practice.
  14. How to blow a bubble.
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