The History of Bubble Gum

Bubble gum was invented in 1928 by Walter E. Diemer.  He worked in accounting for the Fleer Chewing Gum Company in Philadelphia and experimented with new gum recipes in his spare time.  The gum he invented was less sticky than regular chewing gum and it stretched more easily.  Walter called the gum dubble bubble and began to selling the new product.  As it turns out bubble gum is pink because it was the only food dye Diemer had on hand at the time.

Diemer’s bubble gum revolutionized the gum game, but the roots for modern bubble gum extend far deeper.  The ancient Greeks chewed a gummy substance named mastiche, which was taken from the resin of the mastic tree.  The Mayans were also discovered to have a gum chewing habit.  The North American Indians of New England were also chewing gum by that period in history.  It was inevitable that bubble gum would eventually be created in the states because of the historical love affair that the Americas have had with gum itself.

The modern day bubble gum forbear popped up in 1869 during a search for a rubber replacement by a renowned Mexican general.  The idea was that chicle could become a new and plentiful rubber substitute.  Thomas Adams, an American inventor was asked to investigate the possible substitute and found it lacking as a rubber base.  Thomas later tried the substance in a gum recipe and it stuck.