Have you ever wondered why bubble gum is pink? The answer is surprisingly simple: it was the only food dye available in the factory where bubble gum was invented!
But the story of bubble gum is more than just a happy accident — it’s a tale of curiosity, creativity, and one accountant’s sweet success.
People have been chewing on chicle, a natural gum from sapodilla trees, for thousands of years. But it wasn’t until 1848 that commercial chewing gum became available in the United States. Fast forward to 1928, when a 24-year-old accountant named Walter Diemer at the Fleer Chewing Gum Company began tinkering with gum recipes in his spare time.
Fleer had already tried to make bubble gum in 1906 with a formula called Blibber-Blubber, but it was far too sticky and broke apart easily. Diemer revisited that failed formula, experimenting until he found the perfect mix — one that was stretchy, chewy, and could blow bubbles!
When he first created his successful batch, the gum came out a dull gray. The only coloring available at the factory? Pink. So pink it was — and that hue has been the color of bubble gum ever since.
Using a saltwater taffy machine, Diemer hand-wrapped 100 pieces of his new gum and sent them to a local candy shop. Priced at just one penny apiece, they sold out in a single day! Before long, the company launched the gum commercially under the name “Dubble Bubble,” and it became the first-ever bubble gum sold in stores, earning over $1.5 million in its first year.
To boost sales, Diemer even taught salespeople how to blow bubbles so they could show off the fun to customers. Unfortunately, he never patented his invention — and soon other brands joined the race. During the Great Depression, bubble gum became a cheap and cheerful treat. After World War II, Bazooka entered the market and became another household favorite.
The flavor of bubble gum is a mystery of its own. According to Spoon University (yes, that’s a real site, not a real school), the taste is a blend of artificial banana, cherry, and strawberry, with hints of orange, lemon, and cinnamon — a sweet symphony that makes it unlike any other candy.
And while your parents may have warned you not to swallow it, the old myth that gum stays in your stomach for seven years isn’t true. Doctors say it passes through the digestive system like any other food — though you still shouldn’t make a habit of swallowing it!
If you’re a bubble gum enthusiast, you might want to visit some quirky tourist spots like Bubblegum Alley in San Luis Obispo, California, or the Market Theater Gum Wall in Seattle — both plastered with thousands of pieces of chewed gum.
And if you think you can blow a big bubble, try beating Susan Montgomery Williams’ Guinness World Record from 1996: 26 inches in diameter! Or Chad Fell’s 20-inch hands-free record from 2004 — talk about bubble power!
So next time you unwrap that pink piece of gum, remember: it all started with an accountant, a little curiosity, and one simple color choice that made bubble gum history.