The American Chicle Company was a chewing gum trust founded by Thomas Adams, Jr., with Edward E. Beeman and Jonathan Primle. [1]
The American Chicle Company was a chewing gum trust founded by Thomas Adams, Jr., with Edward E. Beeman and Jonathan Primle. [1]
Thomas Adams (May 4, 1818 – February 7, 1905) was a 19th-century American scientist and inventor who is regarded as a founder of the chewing gum industry. Adams conceived the idea while working as a secretary to former Mexican leader Antonio López de Santa Anna, who chewed a natural gum called chicle. Adams first tried to formulate the gum into a rubber which was suitable for making tires. When that didn't work, he turned the chicle into a chewing gum called New York Chewing Gum. [2] [3]
In 1870, Adams created the first flavored gum, black licorice, which he named Black Jack. In 1871, Adams patented the first chewing gum making machine. In 1888, his gum was the first to be sold in vending machines.
The company was incorporated in Trenton, New Jersey on June 2, 1899. [1] Its market capitalization was $9,000,000 with one third issued as preferred stock and 6% with cumulative dividends. The business was composed of the chewing gum concerns in Brooklyn, New York (Adams Sons & Company); Cleveland, Ohio (W. J. White & Sons); Chicago (J. P. Primley); Louisville, Kentucky (Kis-Me Gum Company); and Toronto (S. T. Britten & Co.). [4] The corporation operated factories and gum forests in Yucatan. [5]
In 1915, the company introduced Chiclets.
On January 8, 1920, Dr. Don Ricardo Moreira, of San Salvador of the Coldwell & Moreira firm, registered American Chicle Co. trademarks in El Salvador. [6]
American Chicle utilized Dancer Fitzgerald Sample in 1950 to promote its products via radio, newspapers, and television. [7] American Chicle was acquired by the pharmaceutical company Warner-Lambert in 1962; Warner-Lambert was acquired by Pfizer in 2000.
The American Chicle Company was renamed Adams in 1997; Cadbury purchased Pfizer's candy brands in 2003. Kraft Foods (now Mondelez International) purchased Cadbury in 2010. Many of American Chicle's brands are out of production. Its best known product was probably Chiclets chewing gum which was discontinued in 2016.
Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company owned by Mondelez International since 2010. It is the second-largest confectionery brand in the world, after Mars. Cadbury is internationally headquartered in Greater London, and operates in more than 50 countries worldwide. It is known for its Dairy Milk chocolate, the Creme Egg and Roses selection box, and many other confectionery products. One of the best-known British brands, in 2013 The Daily Telegraph named Cadbury among Britain's most successful exports.
Chewing gum is a soft, cohesive substance designed to be chewed without being swallowed. Modern chewing gum is composed of gum base, sweeteners, softeners/plasticizers, flavors, colors, and, typically, a hard or powdered polyol coating. Its texture is reminiscent of rubber because of the physical-chemical properties of its polymer, plasticizer, and resin components, which contribute to its elastic-plastic, sticky, chewy characteristics.
The Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, known as the Wrigley Company, is an American multinational candy and chewing gum company, based in the Global Innovation Center (GIC) in Goose Island, Chicago, Illinois.
Bubblicious is a brand of bubble gum originally produced by the American Chicle Division of Warner-Lambert. The brand is now part of Cadbury Adams, a division of Mondelez International. It was launched in 1977, in response to the tremendous sales of Bubble Yum, the first soft bubble gum. The brand struggled upon introduction, but sales took off with the advent, in 1978, of the "Ultimate Bubble" advertising campaign. Bubblicious was later expanded internationally.
Black Jack is an aniseed-flavored chewing gum manufactured by the American company, Gerrit J. Verburg Co.
Chiclets is an American brand of candy-coated chewing gum manufactured by Perfetti Van Melle. The brand was introduced in 1900 by the American Chicle Company, a company founded by Thomas Adams.
Dentyne is a brand of chewing gum and breath mints available in several countries globally. It is owned by Perfetti Van Melle.
Trident is a brand of sugar-free chewing gum. It was originally introduced by American Chicle in 1960 shortly before it was bought by Warner-Lambert in 1962. It reached the UK in 2007 when it was introduced by its then-owner Cadbury Schweppes in the United Kingdom. In many other European countries, Trident is branded as Stimorol gum; it is generally the same as Trident.
Ford Gum is an American brand of bubble gum and chewing gum often found in gum machines. It is produced by Ford Gum & Machine Co. The history of the company goes back to 1913, when Ford Mason leased 102 machines and placed them in stores and shops in New York City. The gumballs, while they are covered with different flavors, all have the same flavor under the surface.
Beemans gum is a chewing gum formulated by Ohio physician Edward E. Beeman in the late 19th century. It originally contained pepsin, but no longer does.
Certs was a brand of breath mint that was noted for the frequent use of "two mints in one" in its marketing. The original "classic mints" were disc-shaped without a hole and sold in roll packaging similar to Life Savers and Polo. Certs was one of the first mints to be nationally marketed in the United States and has been a fixture at American drug stores and convenience stores since its debut on the market in 1956. It was discontinued in 2018, possibly for having partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil, which is not allowed as an ingredient in food sold in the United States since then.
Freshen Up was a chewing gum with flavored gels inside manufactured by Cadbury Adams in Brazil. Current flavours include cinnamon, peppermint, spearmint and bubble gum. A fruit variation was offered in the 1970s.
Two multi-national companies, Wrigley and Cadbury, together account for some 60% market share of the worldwide chewing gum market. The global market shares for the top five chewing gum companies are estimated to be:
Charles Ranlett Flint was the founder of the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company which later became IBM. For his financial dealings, he earned the moniker "Father of Trusts". He was an avid sportsman and member of the syndicate that built the yacht Vigilant, that was the U.S. defender of the eighth America's Cup and was the owner of the yacht Gracie.
Francis Edward Barbour was an American college football player and coach and businessman. He played quarterback for the Yale University football team in 1890 and 1891 and helped lead the 1891 Yale team to a perfect 13–0 record and a national championship. He was the head coach of the University of Michigan football team in 1892 and 1893, compiling an overall record of 14–8 in two years as head coach. Barbour later had a lengthy business career. After spending 17 years with the New York Central Railroad, he joined the Beech-Nut Packing Company in 1910 and established its chewing gum business. He remained with Beech-Nut for 38 years and served as chairman of the board from 1946 to 1948.
Clorets is a line of chewing gum and mints made by Cadbury Adams. It was introduced in 1951. Clorets gum and candy contain Actizol, a proprietary ingredient that contains chlorophyll, which purportedly acts as an active ingredient to eliminate mouth odors. Clorets was originally owned by American Chicle, then by Warner-Lambert in 1962 under its Adams division until Pfizer took over in 2000. The Adams division was sold to Cadbury-Schweppes in 2002, which is now known as Cadbury Adams.
Stride is a brand of sugar-free chewing gum currently owned by Perfetti Van Melle, sold in packs of 14 pieces. It was introduced in May 2005. In 2019, Mondeléz International, the parent company of Stride gum, discontinued sales in the United States, Canada, and Europe to focus on other confections. It sold its chewing gum brands to Perfetti Van Melle in 2023.
The American Chicle Company Building, built in 1911, is located in the Gert Town neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana.
Chicle is a natural gum traditionally used in making chewing gum and other products. It is collected from several species of Mesoamerican trees in the genus Manilkara, including M. zapota, M. chicle, M. staminodella, and M. bidentata.
Warner–Lambert was an American pharmaceutical company.
Adams and other chewing gum giants of the 19th century Dr Edward E Beeman and Jonathan Primley founded American Chicle in 1899 ...
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