Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor on The Bedpost Overnight?
The Gum Issue
Welcome curious people! Thank you to everyone who has recently subscribed, commented, and shared Research for Writers and Other Curious People. I’ve a fun newsletter this week. Well, I think it’s fun.
I’m soon heading to Denver for a research trip with a special stop at the Red Rocks Amphitheater (The fact that I’ll be seeing Trevor Noah in concert has nothing to do with it.)
Chew on This
I’m first day of summer vacation excited to be heading to Red Rocks. In my pre-trip research, I came across an article that in 2022, the Friends of Red Rock scraped 50 lbs. of illegal chewing gum from the seats of the outdoor venue.
Yes, for the EW factor here. But I also wrote about Frozen Mice on Amazon and received the funniest comments and stories so I’m going for it here.
The article linked above has some interesting back of the napkin statistics.
50 lbs of chewed and dried gum is approximately 12,600 pieces!
Gum was left behind by 8 out of 1,000 attendees assuming each show had 9500 sold seats.
Also, gum is illegal in the park.
As you can imagine, that was too juicy of an article to leave alone.
What is Chewing Gum? Or Rather What isn’t It?
Chewing gum is not food, though in some places it is considered a confectionary, which is a fancy term for candy.
The substance we know of as gum today is flavored and colored non-toxic plastic.
The original substance has a variety of natural origins. One type of gum was the collected sap of the sapodilla tree. This Serious Eats article offers an interesting history. The sap of the tree was called Chicle.
Raise your hand if you grew up chewing Chiclets Gum (see the connection, Chicle - Chiclets)
Gum as Nostalgia
I have childhood memories of buying bubble gum. I was allowed to bike or walk by myself to the nearby 7-11 and spend my small allowance on a pack of gum. It was a great value if I rationed the pack.
Those were the halcyon days of bubble gum with the big brands and flavors coming into their own. I’ve heard it fondly remembered as the Bubble Gum wars.
Hubba Bubba
Bubblicious
Bubble Yum
Double Fudge
These “new” brands were full on sugar, sticky, with great bubble blowing potential. Older iconic brands like Bazooka and Wrigley Spearmint couldn’t compete.
My other free range purchase was baseball cards. Though the gum included was always awful. The Topps company eventually phased out the gum as it stained the cards.
Chewing Gum 7 Years Later
Did you grow up like me with the fear that if you swallowed a piece of chewing gum it would remain in your stomach for seven years?!
I think this urban legend came from the kid who wasn’t allowed to chew gum or who never had a piece of their own. However, that got me thinking what does happen when you swallow a piece of gum - aka - non toxic soft plastic?
According to the Mayo Clinic, while chewing gum isn’t meant to be swallowed, if you do accidentally swallow it, it won’t hang out for seven years, you eventually pass it out - intact.
More Gum in Popular Culture
People have been chewing gum for a long time and it has become part of our popular culture.
Do you remember the nursery rhyme
Bubble gum Bubble Gum in a Dish. How many pieces do you wish?
Do you know this song?
To Chew or Not to Chew?
Opinions vary about gum chewing. The chomp, chomp, pop, click, smack sound of a chewer in your personal space can send some people over the edge.
Chewing gum at work - etiquette from Emily Post.
“Still, just because chewing is acceptable doesn't mean it's OK to gross out your co-workers. As so often with etiquette, it's not what you do that matters, it's how you do it. Gum chewers need to be aware of how their chewing affects others.”
But…
Chewing gum may help reduce the urge to smoke cigarettes
Chew and Park
Then there is Nicotine gum a medication used to help smokers quit smoking. From the CDC: Nicotine gum is not like regular chewing gum. To use it correctly, bite down slowly on the gum until you feel a tingling in your mouth. Then “park” the gum between the inside of your cheek and your gums. Hold it for about a minute to let the nicotine absorb into your body. Then repeat this “chew” and “park” process until the tingling stops (usually about 30 minutes), occasionally changing where you “park” the gum in your mouth.
Say Goodbye to Our Favorites
I’m no longer a gum chewer but I was sad to learn that many of the iconic brands I grew up with are gone…
Both Dentyne and Trident are being divested by Mondelez, the manufacturer. It seems while candy sales soared during the pandemic, that wasn’t the case for gum. Between 2018 and 2020 chewing gum sales dropped 33%. Chewing gum is an impulse buy and as people weren’t out and about shopping, gum sales fell.
And goodbye Fruit Stripe Zebra
Gummy Thoughts
Do you have a favorite gum?
Are you pro gum or anti gum?
Then there’s Violet the gum chewing brat from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. That was enough to keep me off gum for a long time.
Thanks for chewing on this with me.
I just threw up in my mouth (50 lbs of chewed and dried gum is approximately 12,600 pieces!), but you made me laugh anyway! GREAT article!
My paper route tips burned a hole in my pocket all the way to the candy store each week. Double Bubble (original and green apple flavor) were my favorites, but I always grabbed some bazooka pieces as backup. All these gums were sold individually from barrels in O'Neil's Country Store for 2 cents a piece. My brother was more of a Hubba Bubba, Double Bubble (no fudge) and Bubblicious man though. The more sugar the better, the more pieces he could fit in his mouth at once, the cooler. Ultimately, we both ended up with plenty of cavities. But to me, the memories were worth it. Thanks for the trip down memory lane! :)