Chewing Gum Facts

Chewing gum is a type of chewy candy, in various forms has existed since at least the Neolithic period. 5,000 year old chewing gum with tooth imprints, made of birch bark tar, has been found in Finland. The bark tar of which the gums were made is believed to have antiseptic properties and other medicinal advantages. The ancient Aztecs used chicle as a base for making a gum-like substance. Some most interesting chewing gum facts are:

1. Prehistoric men and women chewed lumps of tree resin for pure enjoyment, making them the first-ever gum chewers in the history.

2. The first commercial chewing gum was introduced in 1848 by John B. Curtis and was known as State of Maine Spruce Gum.

3. The first patent for chewing gum was issued in 1869 to William F. Semple, a dentist from Mount Vernon, Ohio.

4. The very first bubble gum was invented by Frank Henry Fleer in 1906. He called it Blibber-Blubber.

5. Tutti-Frutti chewing gum became the first to be sold in a vending machine in 1888. The machines were located in New York City subway stations.

6. The color of the first successful bubble gum was pink.

7. The largest bubble ever blown was 23 inches in diameter. The record is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records, 1998 and was set by Susan Montgomery Williams of Fresno, California.

8. On an average a person chews over 200 sticks of gum each year.

9. The country with the largest number of chewing gum manufacturers is Turkey.

10. There are more than 1,000 varieties of gum manufactured and sold in the United States.

11. Sugarless or sugar-free gums first entered the marketplace in the early 1950s.

12. Some of the benefits of chewing gum are improved oral health, diet and weight management, increased concentration and stress relief.

13. The United States military has regularly supplied soldiers with chewing gum since World War I because it helped both to improve the soldiers' concentration and to relieve stress.

14. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.

15. If swallowed the gum will remain in a human’s stomach for up to seven years, as it is not digestible.