Gum history

Studies show that in the past, people from all over the world chewed different parts of trees, such as gum or bark, for various purposes. Also, many medicinal properties of this substance, such as the soothing properties of toothaches, are chewed. Also, the Maya people chewed the gum of the sapodilla tree and the North American Indians chewed the gum of the fir tree in order to satisfy their thirst and hunger. The people of Iran also used the gum of the ban tree, which is called turpentine, as a natural chewing gum. (Turpentine, as a substance with many medicinal properties, has been prescribed by famous doctors such as Abu Ali Sina for the treatment of various diseases, including the digestive system.) But the ancient Greeks first introduced chewing gum as a daily habit to the people of the world. The Greeks chewed the gum of the mastic or mastiche tree in order to clean their teeth and also make their breath smell good.

But for the first time, chewing gum was sold as a commercial product in America in 1848. By adding a little flavor to the “spruce tree gum” and also adding paraffin to soften it, the Curtis brothers made the first modern chewing gum after about two years of effort and sold it for a penny apiece. Gradually, sugar was added to make the gum sweeter. In the early 1850s, the first gum factory in the world was named Curtis Chewing Gum Factory after the Curtis brothers.
The first formula for making gum belongs to a dentist. In 1869, Dr. William Semple from Ohio, USA, was able to make chewing gum with a combination of resin, sugar, licorice, and charcoal, although he never mass-produced it. Thus, the opportunity arose for Thomas Adams of New York to carry this work forward.
Thomas Adams was the secretary of former Mexican leader Antonio López de Santa Ana. Antonio sometimes chews pieces of Manilkara chicle, a tropical plant specific to tropical regions. Just when a substance called chicle was produced, Adams started his attempt to use chicle as a tire plastic, and when he did not succeed in this way, by adding sugar to the chicle plant, he created gum, which was later called Chiclets – a well-known brand that is still popular today with this name. Adams named his production gum Adams New York Chewing Gum. It seems that the word “gum” in Persian is actually a mispronunciation of the name Adams, which was written on the box of the first gum imported to Iran.
But you can’t talk about the history of chewing gum without talking about the great Wrigley. Wrigley, who started his career as a soap seller in his hometown of Philadelphia, became one of the richest men in America at the beginning of the 20th century by selling chewing gum. A creative and ambitious salesman, Wrigley, after moving to Chicago in 1891, began offering store owners incentives to purchase his products, such as free cans of baking powder with every order, to increase sales. He saw that baking powder is sold more than its original product. Therefore, he stopped selling soap and started selling baking powder. This time, in addition to selling its product, it offered chewing gum as a reward for customers’ purchases. Seeing that chewing gum sold more than baking powder, Wrigley decided to produce and sell chewing gum. In 1893, Wrigley founded Wrigley’s Spearmint Gum Company and launched two new gum brands, Juicy Fruit and Wrigley’s Spearmint. As the chewing gum industry became crowded with competitors, Wrigley decided to make its products stand out by spending heavily on advertising and direct marketing. In 1915, the Wrigley Company began a campaign in which it sent free samples of its chewing gum to millions of Americans whose names were listed in the telephone book. His other promotions included sending chewing gum to children in the United States on their second birthday. It is interesting to know that Wrigley Company is currently one of the largest American food industry companies that produces a variety of products, including chewing gum under the Wrigley brand. Doublemint, Extra, Orbit, Five brands are other well-known brands of Wrigley Company in Iran.
Frank Flair, who had a chewing gum company since 1885, made many efforts to produce bubble gums. He eventually invented bubble gum called Blibber Blubber in 1906, although a successful bubble gum formula was finally introduced in 1928 by Feller’s employee Walter Diemer and named Dubble Bubble.
In 1928, there was a big change in the chewing gum industry and chewing gums were produced that had medicinal ingredients added to them so that by chewing it, the consumer could receive their medicines more easily.
In 1991 (about 29 years ago), the pharmaceutical organization (Pharmacopoeia) of Europe gave the plan for the use and consumption of chewing gum, which can be used to treat oral diseases or diseases in other parts of the body through substances taken orally or systemically. They are absorbed by the digestive tract and can be treated. By placing drugs in water-soluble compounds or in fat-soluble compounds, these drugs can be absorbed into the body very quickly (within 10-15 minutes) after chewing gum or slowly (within hours). The consumer delivered. These drugs include fluoride (to treat and reduce tooth decay), chlorhexidine (which is a topical antiseptic), nicotine (to reduce smoking by receiving cigarette nicotine through chewing gum), aspirin (which is a pain reliever). and inflammation