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Black Jack is an aniseed-flavored chewing gum manufactured by the American company, Gerrit J. Verburg Co. [1]
In 1869, exiled former Mexican president and general Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (famous for losing the Texas War of Independence) was living in New Jersey. [2] He brought Mexican chicle with him in hopes of selling it to raise funds to help him return to power in his home country. He persuaded Thomas Adams of Staten Island, New York, to buy it. Adams, a photographer and inventor, intended to vulcanize the chicle for use as a rubber substitute. Adams' efforts at vulcanization failed, but he noticed that Santa Anna liked to chew the chicle, which the ancient Mayans had done. Disappointed with the rubber experiments, Adams boiled a small batch of chicle in his kitchen to create a chewing gum. He gave some to a local store to see if people would buy it; they did and he began production.
In 1871, Adams received a patent on a gum-making machine and began mass-producing chicle-based gum. His first product ("Snapping and Stretching") was pure chicle with no flavoring, but sold well enough to encourage Adams in his plans. He began to experiment with flavorings, beginning with sarsaparilla. In 1884, he began adding licorice flavoring and called his invention Adams' Black Jack, the first flavored gum in the U.S. It was also the first gum to be offered in sticks.
Black Jack Gum was sold well into the 1970s, when production ceased due to slow sales. [3] It was re-introduced in 1986 [4] and again in 2019. [5]
Warner–Lambert acquired the American Chicle Company, including the Adams brand, in 1962. The American Chicle Company was renamed to Adams in 1997. Pfizer, which had bought Warner-Lambert in 2000, sold Adams and all of Pfizer's other candy brands to Cadbury in 2003. This unit became Cadbury Adams. [6]
In 2019, Gerrit J. Verburg acquired the Black Jack gum brand among several others from Mondelez International, the parent company of Cadbury. [7]
In the Seinfeld episode "The Library", Jerry remembers his high school girlfriend Sherry Becker as an avid chewer of Black Jack, but upon meeting her again she states her distaste for it and insists that she preferred Dentyne. [8]
In the 1990 movie Pump Up The Volume , Christian Slater's character chews Black Jack gum. [9]
In the television series Homeland , the character of acting CIA director Saul Berenson is revealed as chewing a large amount of Black Jack gum during important operations for good luck. [10]
In Season 3 Episode 15 "Three Amigos" of the television series Northern Exposure , Maurice J. Minnifield (Barry Corbin) is given a pack of Black Jack gum by Ruth-Ann (Peg Phillips) the general store owner, to be buried with his newly deceased friend.
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.
Bubble gum is a type of chewing gum, designed to be inflated out of the mouth as a bubble.
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.
Juicy Fruit is an American brand of chewing gum made by the Wrigley Company, a U.S. company that since 2008 has been a subsidiary of the privately held Mars, Incorporated. It was introduced in 1893, and in the 21st century the brand name is recognized by 99 percent of Americans, with total sales in 2002 of 153 million units.
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.
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.
Rolaids is an American brand of calcium and magnesium-based antacid produced by Procter & Gamble. It was invented by American chemist Irvine W. Grote in the late 1920s, and originated with manufacturing in Chattanooga, Tennessee, under one of Chattem's forerunner companies, which manufactured the brand for Warner-Lambert; Warner-Lambert merged with Pfizer in 2000.
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.
Beemans gum is a chewing gum formulated by Ohio physician Edward E. Beeman and first sold in February 1890. 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.
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.
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.
Gum base is the non-nutritive, non-digestible, water-insoluble masticatory delivery system used to carry sweeteners, flavors, and any other substances in chewing gum and bubble gum. It provides all the basic textural and masticatory properties of gum.
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:
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. In 2024, Mondelez discontinued sales of Stride in the United States, Canada, and Europe, but is still sold in China and Australia. It sold most of its chewing gum brands to Perfetti Van Melle in 2023, which didn't include the sale of Stride, to focus on other confections.
The American Chicle Company was a chewing gum trust founded by Thomas Adams, Jr., with Edward E. Beeman and Jonathan Primle.