Chicle History

Do you the history behind gum? It was the fastest growing business that was struck in the 1900s. One of the first gum bases was Chicle. The milky juice or latex from the Sapodilla tree. For centuries, Mayans and people from Central America chewed Chicle. Chicle was a favorite type of gum. It had a resilient quality and had the ability to hold favors. Native Americans in England taught the colonists to chew tree resins. Colonists that chewing resins and Chicle was silly. But soon after, a colonists in the 1800s opened up a shop that sold chewing gum. Soon after, the number of shops selling chewing gum increased. In the 1800s, spruce gum was sold as a commercial chewing gum. Chicle was used as a chewing gum base in the 1860s. Later on, people
Greeks chewed the sap from the Mastic tree, this was their for of gum. The chewing gum industry was changed forever do an unusual event. A Mexican General by the name of Antonio López de Santa Anna. Went to New York to sell Chicle as rubber. A man named Thomas Adams attempted to make rubber items but his tests failed. All due to the fact that the rubber wouldn't harden. However he discovered Chicle could be chewed. He then started manufacturing gum after adding flavorings. Later Adams became very rich because of owning an enormous gum factory. In the 1900s popularity of chewing gum sky rocketed. The processing, packaging, and promoting was easier because of modern day machines. Did you know, the United States sells more than 24,000,000 miles of gum a year!!! The sales of gum is over $2 billion dollars a year!! Surveys show that an average American chews about 200 sticks a year! The chewing gum industry has become one of the most competitive businesses in the
So, join me and we'll have fun because it's an exciting process. Man made gum or synthetic gum was made form melted rubber, waxes and or plastics. These warm soft bases are then strained for purification. Softeners are added to give moisture and flavors are added. Chewing gum consists of gum base, corn syrup, sugar and flavorings. Latex products from trees are obtained. By making groove cuts in the tree. This is where the latex flows into containers. Now, that the latex is collected, it is boiled and molded into blocks. Synthetic products which are similar to the latex are used in combination with natural latex products to make gun bases. The gum bases are the washed, grounded, sterilized and mixed. The melted bases, are then mixed with corn syrup, sugar and flavorings. The dough type mixture is then, rolled into sheets and divided into pieces. Oils from plants such as peppermint or spearmint are added for additional flavor. When the machines push out a thick ribbon of gum it is flattened. Then cooled, cut and packaged into individual pieces. Gum has a long and amazing journey till it get into your mouth. Now, let me tell you some reasons why we chew