Beemans gum (originally Beeman's Gum) is a chewing gum formulated by Ohio physician Edward E. Beeman and first sold in February 1890. [1] It originally contained pepsin, but no longer does. Beemans became popular with early aviators as a good luck charm, and Chuck Yeager is purported to have chewed a stick of Beemans gum before every flight. [2]
Beeman originally claimed the gum contained pepsin powder that would improve digestion. The product became a part of the American Chicle Company in 1898, and continued on after the purchase of American Chicle by Warner-Lambert in 1962. Production ceased in 1978 due to lagging sales. In 1985 the brand was revived in a nostalgia campaign, as an ordinary chewing gum without the medical claims, marketed along with Clove and Black Jack chewing gums.
The original wrapper had a pig logo, but was later replaced with a logo featuring Beeman's name in scroll and his portrait. The modern wrapper design has a white and red background with white and black lettering. Beemans is sporadically produced by Cadbury Adams as a nostalgia gum, along with the other historic gums Clove and Black Jack. In 2015 the company announced it would no longer produce any of these popular gums. Since then, because of regular demand, all three brands have been reintroduced. In 2019, Gerrit J. Verburg, one of America's largest candy importers, purchased the exclusive rights and resumed production. The gum is no longer made in the United States but rather in Morocco. Packaging is similar to the "original" as is the formula. The gum is sold sporadically in the United States by the Gerrit J. Verburg Co. [3] [4]
The "lucky" gum of pilots is a superstition perhaps based in the original product's unsubstantiated claim of preventing seasickness, but applied to flight airsickness. Chewing any type of gum is thought to promote equalizing pressure in the ears.
The current product no longer contains any pepsin or chicle, and instead follows the ordinary modern chewing gum recipe of sweetened and flavored synthetic gum base. [5] The original medical claim that the chewing gum "cures indigestion and sea-sickness" was never substantiated and would not be permitted today by food and drug regulations dating to the 1930s.
The gum is prominently featured in major movies The Right Stuff , Hot Shots! , The Rocketeer (in which the gum serves a key plot element), and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull , used in the latter for character Mutt Williams (Shia Labeouf) in Indy home scene. Most recently the gum features on the inventor's workbench of young Frank Walker in Disney's Tomorrowland , as Frank is working on his homemade rocket jet-pack.
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.
Bazooka is an American brand of bubble gum that was introduced in 1947. It is a product of "Bazooka Candy Brands" (BCB), which was a division of The Topps Co. until the latter’s acquisition by Fanatics, Inc. in 2022.
Pop Rocks, also known as popping candy, is a type of candy owned by Zeta Espacial S.A. Pop Rocks ingredients include sugar, lactose, and flavoring. It differs from typical hard candy in that pressurized carbon dioxide gas bubbles are embedded inside of the candy, creating a small popping reaction when it dissolves.
Black Jack is an aniseed-flavored chewing gum manufactured by the American company, Gerrit J. Verburg Co.
Orbit is a brand of sugarless chewing gum from the Wrigley Company. In the United States, where it was re-launched in 2001, it is sold in cardboard boxes with 14 individually wrapped pieces per package. In the UK, where it was launched in 1899 it was originally sold as a traditional long-stick gum, later replaced by the same format as the US.
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 owned by the Italian-Dutch company Perfetti Van Melle. 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.
Swedish Fish is a fish-shaped, chewy candy originally developed by Swedish candy producer Malaco in 1957 for the U.S. market. They come in a variety of colors and flavors.
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 due to its containing partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil, an ingredient which has not been allowed in food sold in the United States since then.
Fruit Stripe was an artificially and naturally flavored fruit chewing gum produced by Beech-Nut in 1960 and discontinued in 2024. The individual pieces of gum were striped and were packaged in zebra-striped wrappers, which also acted as temporary tattoos.
Lotte Wellfood Co., Ltd., formerly Lotte Confectionery, is a South Korean international confectionery company headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. The company was established in 1967. Currently, it is the third-largest chewing gum manufacturer in the world, and its plants are located in Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Belgium, India, Russia, Myanmar, and China. Lotte Confectionery was renamed Lotte Wellfood in 2023, after being merged with Lotte Foods in 2022.
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:
E. Wedel is a Polish confectionery company, which has been producing a variety of chocolates, cakes, and snacks since 1851. Wedel is also a well-recognized brand of candy in Poland, considered to be the "Polish national chocolate brand" in that market, and is the leading candy brand among Polish producers, with about 14% of the Polish market in 2005, and 11.7% in 2007.
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 introduced in 2006 and owned by Mondelez International, sold in packs of 14 pieces. The company sold most of its chewing gum brands to Perfetti Van Melle in 2023, which did not include the sale of Stride, to focus on other confections. In 2024, Mondelez discontinued sales of Stride in the United States, Canada, and Europe, but it is still sold in China and Australia.
The American Chicle Company was a chewing gum trust founded by Thomas Adams, Jr., with Edward E. Beeman and Jonathan Primle.
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