Bubblegum

  Bubblegum is a type of chewing gum especially designed for blowing bubbles. Bubble gum is available in many different colors and flavors. The most common flavor is the distinctive one also known as "bubblegum", which is a combination of wintergreen, peppermint, vanilla and cianin, a type of cinnamon. Bubble gum tends to be more viscous than standard chewing gum: this facilitates bubble blowing. Some brands are especially non-sticky, such as Big League Chew, Bubble Yum, and Bubblicious. In North America, bubble gum is often dispensed in gumball machines. In 1906 a man named Frank Fleer invented a formula for bubble gum, it wasn't until later that his worker improved the invention later known as Dubble Bubble.

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History

Bubble gum was first introduced to the American public in 1911, although the gum apparently failed to perform as promised.^[1]  Some might say^[who?] the true inventor and patent holder of Dubble Bubble is seldom publicly acknowledged, based on a poorly documented story about confusion created by a popular 1960s game show called What's My Line?.^{[citation needed]} According to the story, seeking to include the inventor of bubble gum in its line-up of guests; the writers for What's My Line? consulted with the Frank H. Fleer Company. In the 35 years that elapsed since the invention of Dubble Bubble, the true creator of the formula, Gilbert Mustin, had died. Realizing that the publicity opportunity was too valuable to decline, the Fleer Corp. decided to cast Walter Diemer (Gilbert Mustin's accountant, who knew nothing about chemistry at the time of bubble gum's invention) as the charmingly haphazard inventor of bubble gum. The July 1990 edition of Smithsonian magazine followed suit, publishing an article on the inventor of bubble gum, whom they claimed to be Walter Diemer. After interviewing the elderly Diemer, who at this point was consumed by senility, Smithsonian portrayed Walter Diemer as the undisputed hero of children across the world. To this day, Diemer is publicly acknowledged as the accountant who accidentally invented Dubble Bubble. So far, according to the story, no publication has acknowledged the fact that Gilbert Mustin's name lies on the original patent for bubble gum.

The credibility of this story depends upon a citation for the purported 1928 patent. Looking under the U.S. patent classification most frequently used for such gum inventions (namely 426/3, 426/4, 426/5, and 426/6) one will find that G.B. Mustin filed for three patents: one on 10 November 1926 and two on 10 September 1928, respectively under the titles of "Method of Making Chewing Gum Sandwiches" and "Chewing Gum and Method of Making the Same" all issued 29 July 1930 under patent numbers: 1,771,506; 1,771,981; and 1,771,982. The latter two inventions are chewing gum improvements that could possibly describe the bubble gum formula prior to it actually being called "bubble gum". Furthermore, the first patent found within the classification numbers provided above that referred to "bubble gum" was issued to Katie Wilcox in 1936 for "Bubble Chewing Gum" (U.S. patent# 2060461).

See also

• Chewing gum
• Functional gum
• Gum base
• Gum industry
• List of chewing gum brands

References

1. ^ November 7, 1911. The Wichita Daily Times (TX).