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When first chewing gum was sold?

People have relished chewing on chewing gum-like substances such as thickened resin and latex that come from certain kinds of trees in many lands and from very early times.

It is believed that ancient Greeks chewed mastiche — a chewing gum made from the resin of the mastic tree — while ancient Mayans chewed chicle which is the sap of the sapodilla tree. North American Indians chewed sap from spruce trees, whereas the early American settlers made chewing gum from spruce sap and beeswax. In 1848, John B. Curtis made and sold the first commercially produced chewing gum called the State of Maine Pure Spruce Gum. On December 28, 1869, William Finley Semple became the first person to patent a chewing gum.

In 1880, John Colgan invented a way to make chewing gum retain its taste for a longer time while being chewed. By 1888, Thomas Adams' chewing gum called Tutti-Frutti became the first to be sold in a vending machine patented by him in 1871.

In 1906, Frank Fleer invented the first bubble gum called Blibber-Blubber gum. However, the bubble-blowing gum was never sold.

In 1914, Wrigley Doublemint brand was created. William Wrigley, Jr. and Henry Fleer were responsible for adding the popular mint and fruit extracts to chicle chewing gum. In 1928, Walter Diemer invented the successful pink-coloured Double Bubble bubble gum.

— Compiled by Gaurav Sood