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Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Who Invented Chewing –gum?

Chewing-gum was first made by John Curtis, of Bangor, Maine, USA, in 1848, on his kitchen stove. He started production in a factory in Portland, Maine, with a variety of different gums in 1850.
Modern chewing –gum, however, owes its origins to an American photographer called Thomas Adams.
He tried experimenting with a tree substance called chicle as a substitute for rubber in the production of moulded goods, but the experiments were not successful.
One day he chewed a lump of chicle and suddenly thought of adding flavouring and selling it as gum.
In 1872 he opened a small factory. Business expanded rapidly aided by the fact that the Tutti-Frutti Company began selling it from machines (the first were erected on platforms of the Newyork Elevated Railroad in 1888)
Chewing-gum introduced to Britain in 1894, but failed to catch on. Then the firm of Wrigley reintroduced it in 1911, and it probably became successful for a similar reason as in America - sweet -shops refused to sell it, so it appeared on the streets first in vending machines.

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Inventions, science, useful topics for students.