The first chewing gum made in stick form was introduced in 1884.  The name of the gum was Black Jack Gum introduced by Thomas Adams who lived in Staten Island, New York.  The gum was flavored with licorice making it the first gum in America with flavor.  Too firsts were the result of Thomas Adams creativity: flavored and stick form gum.  When you bite into the futuristic Orbit or Trident Splash Gum remember good old Thomas Adams.  Without this man you might still be chewing flavorless gum made from rough gum substances.  Black Jack Gum was discontinued in the 1970s as sales slowed disappointing the licorice gum chewers of the day.  John Trivolta, disco, and Freshen-up gum was happening while licorice gum was a fading.  The Adams Company then merged with the American Chicle Company which then became a part of the Warner-Lambert Company.  Warner-Lambert had the insight to start selling Black Jack Gum again in limited runs bringing back Black Jack Gum, Clove Gum, and Beemans Gum every few years.  Guess what?  Warner-Lambert merged with Pfizer and they continued the limited roll outs.  Guess what?  Pfizer sold the Adams gums to Cadbury.  Guess what?  Cadbury still owns the brand!  You thought I was going to mention another company didn’t you?  That’s it for the history of the brand.  The good news is Cadbury continues to sell the brand every few years.  No new runs for 2007 though so lets hope the tradition continues. 

Unfortunately stick gum is becoming a gum of the past as pellet form gum becomes more popular.  Opening a clean crisp blue pack of black jack gum is an incredible experience.  The graphic is simple and a lovely color of blue.  Taking the paper off the gum to reveal the foil surrounding the gum makes my taste buds start to flow.  I take the foil off to reveal the actual gum and it smells wonderful!  I take the gum and break it up in my mouth and the texture is soft and firm.  I start chewing and the licorice flavor is absolutely amazing.  I wish they would make the licorice taste last forever but in two minutes the gum starts to become flavorless.  No problem!  I’ll just get another stick.  I love this gum because I love the taste of licorice.  The flavor is unique and full of history thanks to my new friend Thomas Adams.

Hey Candy Kids! Looks like Bubble Yum and Hershey’s have teamed up to bring you new Bubble Yum Hershey’s Gum. I am skeptical on how chocolate flavored gum will taste, but I like to walk on the wild side now and again, so I’ll give it a shot. 

It looks like normal Bubble Yum gum, but a dark brown color instead of the usual day-glow screaming neon colors they throw at us. It smells like chocolate, so let’s see about the taste…Hmmmm…Interesting, very interesting. It tastes great! It tastes like chewy Hershey’s chocolate and the flavor stays for quite some time. I have been chewing on this piece for nearly twenty minutes and the flavor just keeps on coming. The gum is really giving me a run for my money. I am really surprised, candy kids, this stuff is awesome! The gum is nothing short of what you’d expect from Bubble Yum. It’s chewy, makes great chewing gum bubbles and isn’t too hard. The chocolate flavor adds an almost sophisticated taste to it. This is, by far, the best gum I have chewed in a while. And again, I can’t tell you how great the flavor is, so long lasting! I give this the Sheriff badge of approval, so you better try it. Thanks to Bubble Yum, they have given chocolate and gum lovers the world over a new taste sensation. All hail Bubble Yum Hershey’s Gum!

I am a gum snob. I only really like to chew sugar free gum but that tends to lose its flavor so quickly, so when I find a gum that I like, I usually stick to it. This new Ice Breakers Center gum is quickly becoming one of my favorites. Each piece is packed with ginseng and antioxidants from Vitamin C which makes me happy because not only am I getting a clean, minty fresh mouth as a result of chewing this gum, but I will be getting a good dose of vitamins as well. Now how many of you can say your gum can do all of that? Hmmm?

The gum is packaged in a small, rectangular box that and each piece is round and green. The gum has a hard-ish “sugar� shell (remember kids, this gum is sugar free) that is packed with the signature Ice Breakers “flavor crystals� while the inside is a soft gum product. Once you start chewing, you realize that flavor is the key here. And this flavor is not stopping. I have been chewing this piece of gum for almost an hour and the flavor just won’t quit. My mouth feels cool and refreshed and because the gum is sugar free, I don’t feel the least bit guilty.

This gum is nice and chewy and doesn’t dissolve easily which gets a major thumbs-up from me. There is nothing worse than gum that easily dissolves and gets stuck in your teeth and lips. You will not find that here, thank goodness! So far the gum has kept its chewy consistency and again, the flavor just lasts and lasts. Without turning into Violet Beauregard from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (champion gum chewer) I think it’d be safe to say that this gum would last quite a long time. So if you’re looking for a new, cool mint gum, I advise you to try the new Ice breakers “Center� Gum.

Trident gum is a brand of sugarless chewing gum popular in the United States and Canada. Introduced in 1960, the Trident brand was the first national brand of sugar-free chewing gum. Developed by the American Chicle company in response to medical discoveries linking sugar to dental caries, the original Trident formula contained three enzymes thought to soften dental tartar, but was sugared. (The name “Trident” derives from the three enzymes to promote dental health.) When artificial sweeteners became widespread in the early 1960s, the formula was changed to use saccharin instead of sugar, and Sugar-Free Trident was introduced in 1964 was introduced with the slogan “The Great Taste that is Good for Your Teeth”. American Chicle’s marketing was one of the first national campaigns to promote dental health through chewing gum. NASA dispensed Trident gum to the first Gemini astronauts. In the mid-1960s, the Adams gum company acquired American Chicle and introduced a new slogan for Trident: “4 out of 5 Dentists surveyed would recommend sugarless gum to their patients who chew gum.” The phrase became strongly associated with the Trident brand.

If this gum is good enough for NASA astronauts, it’s good enough for me! Trident gum is one of life’s greatest things…it’s a sweet treat that you can enjoy guilt-free and it helps whiten and brighten your smile while chewing! Talk about multi-tasking! This “Cool Colada� flavor is brand-spankin’ new, so I thought I’d try it out before the holidays – that way if I like it, you can add it to your Christmas wish list. This particular Trident gum comes in one of those nifty “blister� packs. You pop the gum out of the back side of a silver foil tray. There are twleve pieces of gum to a pack and each one looks like a small white tablet. The gum has a hard crisp outer “sugar� shell, although this is a completely sugar free gum (thank you, Trident – from me and my dentist!). The gum is fruity and tropical. I can taste pineapple, coconut and something else…maybe orange? Something citrus-y. The flavor is great – maybe because I love pina coladas. Whatever it is, this gum is delicious. It’s very refreshing and it’s helping to clean and whiten my teeth. Two birds killed with one stone…er, piece of gum. So candy kids, this gets the Sherrif’s badge of approval – ask Santa for it for Christmas!

William Wrigley Jr. came to Chicago in the spring of 1891. He was 29 years old, had $32 in his pocket, and possessed unlimited energy and great talent as a salesman. He started out selling soap. As an extra incentive to merchants to carry Wrigley’s soap, he offered them free baking powder. When baking powder proved to be more popular than soap, he switched to the baking powder business. One day, Mr. Wrigley got the idea to offer merchants free chewing gum with each can of baking powder. The rest is history. Wrigley then went on to make Lotta and Vassar gums in 1892 and Juicy Fruit and Spearmint introduced in 1893. The success was not huge at first, but the company persevered and is now one of the largest chewing gum manufacturers in the U.S.

I am an avid gum chewer, but I usually stick to mint flavored gums. This is my first experience with a coffee flavored gum, so forgive me if I seem apprehensive. The gum smells great, though. It smells just like a sweet cup of coffee – minus the steam, of course. The gum itself is the usual, flat stick that we have come to recognize as the signature Wrigley’s gum, only this gum is a light brown color with a white, powdery substance on the outside. Ok, candy kids, enough looking at it; let’s give this new gum a shot! Well what do you know? It tastes great! It tastes like a sweet, creamy cup of coffee. Not too strong and not too sweet. And the flavor just keeps on going. That’s what I’ve always loved about Wrigley’s gum – the long lasting flavor. And this keeps going and going. I think the only downside to this gum is that it leaves you with coffee breath, which is what I try to avoid and mask with minty gum. I think that this is a great new product, but I’d keep some mint gum handy if you plan on chewing this while you’re out and about.

Candy of the Month: Orbit Gum

Flavors:

Box #1 (Mint Mojito)

Box#2 (Raspberry Mint)

In Stores: December 2006

Welcome back to the next installment of the “Candy of the Futureâ€? segment. It’s a brand new day in the land of chewing gum. Now as you know, Orbit first hit the scene in 2001 with that cute British bird we would all come to love. But the great thing is, they take it a step farther and introduce yet more amazing flavors. For the sophisticated gum chewer we have Mint Mojito. Now, if you’ve ever had a Mojito (legally) you know it’s quite a minty drink to begin with. Very refreshing and goes down like water, yet somehow Orbit has magically transformed that drink into a chewing gum (legally) leaving the mouth feeling minty fresh with all the pizazz to a Mojito beverage.

Now the other flavor we have is Raspberry Mint. You know as glorious as it smells, it seemingly falls short where Mint Mojito thrived. I was expecting an onslaught of raspberry juices, but the payoff just wasn’t as big as I thought it was going to be. Here is Raspberry Mints saving grace, it’s not a sprint, its a marathon. I’ve been smacking on this piece of raspberry mint for about half an hour and the taste and texture haven’t left. Usually your jaw gets tired, the texture begins to deteriorate, the flavor is gone but for some reason you keep chewing. Why do we do that to ourselves? Do yourself a favor, drop whatever gum you’re chewing or like to chew and go get a pack of this new stuff. There’s no way around it, Orbit will soon thrive as America’s #1 gum chewed sooner than you think.

The amazing thing about Orbit is, they haven’t been around long. In fact they are the youngest kid on the gum chewing block. But age ain’t nothing but a number. Orbit Gum stands its ground among the leading gum contenders. Orbit does more than satisfy your chewing gum needs, it is actually helping to clean your teeth while you chew it. And though it is a proven fact that chewing gum relieves tension and steps in as a nice snack between meals, Orbit is leading the way in the chewing gum world. I would tell you to “brush your teeth!â€?, but Orbit does it for you. Fabulous!