Mysterious 1890s Chewing Gums

Today we're going to take a detour from lost New York. We'll return to it later this week, when I am going to tell you about a tiny lane in Brooklyn that was - in one instance, literally - a hotbed of criminal activity in the late 19th century.

Anyway, I came across this ad in The Canadian Druggist (February 1890) - and wondered what all the strange-sounding chewing gums were. Time for a little detective work in the history books...If only I had access to the "descriptive circular" with its elegant lithographs!

This is what I found out:

Tutti Frutti: Literally "many fruits" in Italian. In 1888 it was the first gum sold in vending machines, which were to be found in New York City subway stations.

Tampico: Tampico is a place in Mexico; it is about 100 miles from Tuxpan, which was the place where the best chicle came from, according to a US Consuls Report in 1889 (at the link). Chicle is a gum from the chicle tree, which is found in Central America and Mexico. Thomas Adams originally tried to make rubber tires from chicle, but luckily tried chewing a bit of it one day. You can find out more about Adams at some of the links in the Sources list at the end of the post.

Black Jack: Black licorice gum; see link to a great Black Jack post below (and here too, as you see).

Sappota: "Sapota-gum" was another named for chicle used in the 1880s and 1890s, i.e. for a generic gum. However, the sapota or sapodilla is an everghreen tree found in India, Mexico and the Philippines. Its berry tastes like caramel and has what Wikipedia calls "a high latex content" - both of which attributes must have made it ideal for making into gum. So this may well have been a sapota-flavored gum, not a generic.

Red Rose: Probably rose-flavored, as were many things at the late Victorian period: sulphuric lemonade, tooth powder and cakes among them.

Magic Trick: Probably came with instructions on how to perform a simple magic trick.

Taffy: Didn't really find out anything specific, but probably calling the gum Taffy Gum was an attempt to tell the consumer that chicle-based gum was chewy and stretchy like the familiar taffy candy.

Licorice and Caramel: Self-explanatory! Caramel Gum sounds especially nice.

Tolu Gum: Made from tolu balsam extract. Originally made by a man named John Colgan in the 1870s in Louisville, Kentucky, and called Tolu Taffy Gum (see left for the gorgeous tin Colgan's gum came in).

N.Y. Gum: Adams' first gum, first made in 1875, called New York No. 1 Gum. It was unflavored and since it was made from chicle, was not crumbly like earlier gums. It had the tagline "Snapping and Stretching," which is what it did, or you did with it, of course.

Puzzle Gum: Presumably this came with a little puzzle or riddle.

If this has got you in the mood for some Adams gum, never fear, they still make several of the old-fashioned brands - you can get them over here, for example (or at other vintage/retro candy emporia).
And you should certainly visit The Bewildered Brit, who can tell you all about Black Jack gum and retro non-Adams gums, too.

SOURCES

Aaseng, Nathan. Business Builders in Sweets and Treats (2005), p. 46.
At Brandland USA there is a wonderful Adams gum display
Candy Favorites has a history of chewing gum
"Chewing Gum Formula," Bulletin of Pharmacy, volume 2 (1888) p. 279 [Sappota]
Chewing Gum History at About.com
Fascinating Facts about Thomas Adams and his gum
Kleber, John. The Encyclopedia of Louisville (2000-01), p. 210. [Tolu]
Western Druggist, volume 16 (1894), p. 64 [Tolu]

I wrote about another Adams gum ad over here - and yes, I do really need to transfer this and some other posts over to the current Kitchen Retro. And here's another Adams gum post from this very blog, too.

The Adams New York Chewing Gum card is from eBay and you can buy it if you like, if it's still for sale. It dates from the 1880s.

Oh so many antique gum items at Morphy Auctions, which is where the red Tolu Taffy tin picture is from. They have some amazing things!