S-ar putea sa va ganditi ca guma de mestecat este un produs modern dar oamenii au mestecat guma, în diverse forme, din cele mai vechi timpuri. Exista dovezi ca unii europeni nordici au mestecat tarc de mesteacan acum 9000 de ani, posibil pentru placere, precum si pentru scopuri medicale, cum ar fi ameliorarea durerilor de dinti. Mayasii au mestecat o substanta numita chicle, derivata din arborele sapodilla, ca o modalitate de a stinge setea sau de a lupta impotriva foamei, conform “Chicle: The Chewing Gum of the Americas” de Jennifer P. Mathews. Aztecii au folosit deasemenea chicle si chiar au avut reguli de folosire in societate. Numai copiii si femeile singure au avut voie sa o mestece in public, notează Mathews. Femeile casatorite si vaduvele le puteau mesteca privat pentru a-si împrospata respiratia, in timp ce barbatii ar fi putut mesteca in secret pentru a-si curata dintii.
In America de Nord, indienii mestecau rasina de molid, o practica care a continuat si la coloniștii europeni care au urmat. La sfasrsitul anilor 1840, John Curtis a dezvoltat prima guma de mestecat comerciala din molid. El fierbea rașina, apoi o taia in benzi care apoi erau acoperite cu amidon de porumb pentru a impiedica lipirea. La inceputul anilor 1850, Curtis a construit prima fabrica de guma de mestecat din lume, in Portland, Maine. Sa dovedit insa ca rasina de molid nu a fost ideala pentru producerea gumei, deoarece nu a avut gust bun si devenea sfarmicioasa cand era mestecata. Curtis si altii care au intrat in afaceri cu gume au trecut apoi la ingrediente precum ceara de parafina.
Urmatoarea evolutie cheie a aparut atunci cand un inventator din New York, Thomas Adams, sa pus mainile pe un chicle prin exilatul presedinte mexican Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Chicle este derivat din sucul de lapte (latex) al copacului dsapodilla care crește în pădurile tropicale ale Americii Centrale. Detaliile exacte ale modului in care cei doi barbati au legatura nu sunt clare. Santa Anna a vrut sa ajute la dezvoltarea chiclei ca inlocuitor al cauciucului si a crezut ca bogatiile pe care le-ar castiga i-ar permite sa se intoarcă la putere in patria sa. Adams a inceput sa experimenteze cu chicle, dar cand munca sa nu a reusit sa obtina rezultatele dorite, a abandonat proiectul. Adams a realizat in cele din urma ca, mai degraba decat sa incerce sa creeze o alternativa de cauciuc, ar putea folosi chicle pentru a produce un tip mai bun de guma de mestecat. El a format o companie care pana la sfarsitul anilor 1880 a facut guma sa fie vanduta in toata tara, potrivit lui Mathews. Chicle, importat în Statele Unite din Mexic si America Centrală, a servit ca ingredient principal in guma de mestecat pana cand majoritatea producatorilor au inlocuit-o cu ingrediente sintetice pana la mijlocul anilor 1900.
Datorita popularitatii crescute a acestor produse, cererea de chicle a crescut rapid. Capacitatea de a furniza chicle a fost limitata de arborii de cauciuc de la care a fost derivata. Copacii au nevoie de o medie de patru pana la opt ani de odihna intre colectari. Producatorii au fost nevoiti sa se indrepte catre baze de cauciuc sintetic pentru a-si continua afacerea. Parafina, descoperita initial în 1830, a fost o optiune pentru unii producatori, deoarece este incolora, inodora, lipsita de gust si in abundenta, dar altii continuau sa caute un material mai bun. Un dentist din Ohio a folosit cauciuc pentru a crea un produs tip guma de mestecat pentru exercitiile maxilare si stimularea gingiilor. William F. Semple a fost onorat pentru aceasta lucrare cu primul brevet de inventie pentru fabricarea gumei de mestecat, in decembrie 1869.
In secolul XX, guma de mestecat l-a facut pe William Wrigley Jr. unul dintre cei mai bogati oameni din America. Wrigley a inceput ca vanzator de sapun in Philadelphia. Dupa ce sa mutat la Chicago in 1891, a inceput sa ofere proprietarilor de magazine stimulente pentru a crea stocuri de sapun, cum ar fi cutii gratuite de praf de copt pentru fiecare comanda. Cand praful de copt s-a dovedit a fi o afacere mai mare decat sapunul, Wrigley a vandut-o, si a inceput sa adauge pachete gratuite de guma de mestecat ca promovare. In 1893, el a lansat doua branduri noi de guma, Juicy Fruit și Wrigley’s Spearmint. Deoarece concurenta a devenit serioasa in productia de gume de mestecat Wrigley a decis sa-si faca produsele sa iasa in evidenta, cheltuind foarte mult pe publicitate si marketing direct. In 1915, compania Wrigley a demarat o campanie in care a trimis exemplare gratuite de gume pentru milioane de americani inscrisi in carti telefonice. O alta promotie a implicat trimiterea gume copiilor din SUA la a doua zi de nastere.
Concurența a jucat un rol in dezvoltarea gumei de mestecat. Frank Fleer, a carui companie facuse guma de mestecat inca din 1885, dorea ceva diferit de rivalii sai si a petrecut ani de zile lucrand la un produs care ar fi putut fi inedit. In 1906, el a creat o guma de mestecat pe care o numește Blibber-Blubber, dar sa dovedit a fi prea lipicioasa. In 1928, Walter Diemer, un angajat al companiei Fleer a inventat în sfarsit o formula de succes pentru prima guma de mestecat comerciala, numita Dubble Bubble.
Astăzi, guma de mestecat este vanduta la nivel global intr-o varietate de forme si arome existand multi producatori diferiti.
You might guess it’s a custom dreamed up by a modern-day, real-life, but people have been chewing gum, in various forms, since ancient times. There’s evidence that some northern Europeans were chewing birch bark tar 9,000 years ago, possibly for enjoyment as well as such medicinal purposes as relieving toothaches. The ancient Maya chewed a substance called chicle, derived from the sapodilla tree, as a way to quench thirst or fight hunger, according to “Chicle: The Chewing Gum of the Americas” by Jennifer P. Mathews. The Aztecs also used chicle and even had rules about its social acceptability. Only kids and single women were allowed to chew it in public, notes Mathews. Married women and widows could chew it privately to freshen their breath, while men could chew it in secret to clean their teeth.
In North America, the Indians chewed spruce tree resin, a practice that continued with the European settlers who followed. In the late 1840s, John Curtis developed the first commercial spruce tree gum by boiling resin then cutting it into strips that were coated in cornstarch to prevent them from sticking together. By the early 1850s, Curtis had constructed the world’s first chewing gum factory, in Portland, Maine. As it turned out, though, spruce resin was less-than-ideal for producing gum because it didn’t taste great and became brittle when chewed. Curtis and others who’d jumped into the gum business after him subsequently switched to ingredients such as paraffin wax.
The next key development came when an inventor in New York, Thomas Adams, got his hands on some chicle through exiled Mexican president Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Chicle is derived from the milky juice (latex) of the sapodilla tree that grows in the tropical rain forests of Central America. The exact details of how the two men connected are unclear, although they would’ve been in contact following Santa Anna’s arrival in the United States sometime after the mid-1850s (before that, he led Mexican forces at the Battle of the Alamo in 1836 and served multiple terms as Mexico’s president). Santa Anna wanted assistance developing chicle into a substitute for rubber, and believed the riches he stood to earn would enable him to return to power in his homeland. Adams began experimenting with chicle but when his work failed to yield the desired results, Santa Anna abandoned the project. Adams eventually realized that rather than trying to create a rubber alternative, he could use chicle to produce a better type of chewing gum. He formed a company that by the late-1880s was making gum sold across the country, according to Mathews. Chicle, imported to the United States from Mexico and Central America, served as the main ingredient in chewing gum until most manufacturers replaced it with synthetic ingredients by the mid-1900s.
Due to the increased popularity of these products, the demand for chicle rose quickly. But, as chicle-suppliers soon realized, their ability to supply chicle was limited by the trees from which it was derived. The trees needed an average of four to eight years of rest between tappings. When chicle-bearing trees of Central America could not keep up with demand, manufacturers turned to synthetic gum bases to continue their business. Paraffin, originally discovered in 1830, was an option as it is colorless, odorless, tasteless and plentiful, but others kept searching for a better material. An Ohio dentist used rubber to create a chewing gum product for jaw exercise and chewing gum stimulation. William F. Semple was honored for this work with the first patent to manufacture chewing gum in December 1869.
In the 20th century, chewing gum made William Wrigley Jr. one of the wealthiest men in America. Wrigley started out as a soap salesman in his native Philadelphia. After moving to Chicago in 1891, he began offering store owners incentives to stock his products, such as free cans of baking powder with every order. When the baking powder proved a bigger hit than the soap, Wrigley sold that instead, and added in free packs of chewing gum as a promotion. In 1893, he launched two new gum brands, Juicy Fruit and Wrigley’s Spearmint. Because the chewing gum field had grown crowded with competitors, Wrigley decided he’d make his products stand out by spending heavily on advertising and direct-marketing. In 1915, the Wrigley Company kicked off a campaign in which it sent free samples of its gum to millions of Americans listed in phone books. Another promotion entailed sending sticks of gum to U.S. children on their second birthday.
Competition also played a role in the development of bubble gum. Frank Fleer, whose company had made chewing gum since around 1885, wanted something different from his rivals and spent years working on a product that could be blown into bubbles. In 1906, he concocted a bubble gum he called Blibber-Blubber, but it proved to be too sticky. In 1928, a Fleer employee named Walter Diemer finally devised a successful formula for the first commercial bubble gum, dubbed Dubble Bubble.
Today, gum is sold in a variety of shapes and flavors and there are alot different manufacturers.
Gume de mestecat 