Bubble Gum
Originally bubblegum was created in 1755 by Vincent Geoffrion Hughes, the founder of the Hughes Company, in 1755. This gum was too sticky and broke too easily, so it was quickly abandoned. Accompanied by his assistant, Keegan C. Marr, Hughes strove to create a stronger, less sticky type of gum, but was forced to give up in 1908 and declared bankruptcy. Bubblegum was first introduced to the American public in 1911, but it was not commercially successful.[1]
The first commercially viable bubblegum product seems to have been produced by the Shelby Gum Company of Shelby, Ohio in 1924 and was sold worldwide under the name "Blow Gum" and later as "Blow Bubble".[2]
The Fleer company later developed an improved bubblegum, which they marketed under the name Dubble Bubble. The invention of Dubble Bubble is commonly attributed to Walter Diemer, an accountant at Fleer.[3] It has been claimed this story was fabricated in the 1960s by the Fleer company[citation needed] and that the true inventor was Fleer president Gilbert Mustin, who had died by that time, but that Fleer did not want to lose the publicity opportunity.[citation needed] The reason bubblegum is traditionally pink is that it was the original color used by Frank H. Fleer, as it was the only one in stock when he made it.[citation needed]
Up to the 1970s, bubblegum had a tendency to stick to one's face, if given the opportunity. But with the advent of super-soft, non-stick gum like Bubble Yum, Bubblicious and Hubba Bubba, bubble blowing became a less dangerous sport. In the years that followed, the fear of gum sticking to one's face actually ceased to be a cultural phenomenon, despite having been a common humorous reference in entertainment.
Indeed, with the introduction of Bubble Yum, bubblegum became one of the best-selling sweets in the US and soon outpaced Life Savers eponymous flagship candy in annual sales.
The 23 inch (58.24 cm) bubble blown by Susan Montgomery Williams of Fresno, California in 1994 still holds the Guinness World Record as the largest bubble blown (in 1979, she broke the then-existing 17 inch [43.18 cm] record); on 1 October 2008, Williams died of an aneurysm at age 47. Joyce Samuels of Louisville, Kentucky is the current Guinness World Record Holder for blowing the largest bubblegum bubble from the nose, 16 in (40.64 cm). At the time this was written, Samuels is the only person to ever hold this record.
Since its beginning, competition to find out who can blow the largest bubble has been one of bubblegum's prime attractions. Over the years many contests have come and gone. The most recent entry of importance, which has been developed by a group that includes Williams and Samuels, is the Bubblegum World Championship. This contest bills itself as one where an entrant can blow the biggest bubble and become the world champion of bubblegum bubble blowing, and is open to a broader population than some of the major contests of the past.