General Santa Anna |
The Gum-Chewing General
Susan Page Davis here. Most of us recognize the name of Mexican General Santa Anna (that’s
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna) because he won the battle of the Alamo. He’s
usually cast as the villain in our movies and textbooks. But we have something
we can thank him for—chewing gum!
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The Alamo, where the famous battle took place in 1836 |

He was exiled in several places of over the years, including
Cuba, Jamaica, Columbia, the then-Danish island of St. Thomas, and the United
States.
While he was living in exile in Staten Island for part of
his final exile, he had chicle sent to him from Mexico so that he could
continue chewing.
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Circa 1917, bleeding a tree for chicle |
Santa Anna’s personal secretary and interpreter reportedly
showed some of the rubbery, chewy substance to Thomas Adams, a friend and
amateur inventor. Adams thought he might use chicle to produce a rubber
substitute, possibly replacing the rubber in carriage tires. He is said to have bought a ton of the stuff from Santa Anna. The
rubber replacement idea failed, but Adams started selling it as gum balls.
Later adding flavors and sweetening, Adams created “rubber chewing gum.”
The first flavors of chewing gum came from Adams: sassafras
and licorice. The licorice flavor, which he called “Black Jack,” is the oldest
flavored gum on the market. The gum was sold as Adam’s New York Gum.
Santa Anna returned to Mexico under a general amnesty offer in 1874, and he died two years later, but the idea had already taken off.
By 1880, lots of companies were producing chewing gum.
Edward Beeman, a druggist, came up with a peppermint flavored chicle gum that
was very popular. William White also
produced a peppermint gum called "Yucatan" that became a bestseller. Adams’s gum
company became and remained one of the largest in the country, but it was
William Wrigley Jr. who developed “Chiclets.”
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Gen. Santa Anna in his later years |
Bubble gum was first developed by Frank Fleer. He started
making gum around 1885. The first attempts were disappointing. The bubbles were
so sticky they were hard to scrub off a child’s face. By 1928 he had mastered
it and produced a gum that stayed together when chewed and blown, and also
snapped back. The drier bubble was not so hard to scrub off. He called it
Dubble Bubble, and it is still the largest selling brand of bubble gum in the world.
It wasn’t long before companies were producing synthetic gum
bases that were more uniform than chicle, easier to control, and harmless if
swallowed.
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Remember Black Jack? |
After World War II, chicle was not used much anymore. Today we chew
mostly polyvinyl acetate, a synthetic plastic. But we can still thank the
erstwhile brilliant general and cruel dictator, who brought us the idea of
chewing gum.


Susan Page Davis is the author of more than sixty
published novels. She’s always interested in the unusual happenings of the
past. Her newest books include Seven
Brides for Seven Texans, Mountain Christmas Brides, and River Rest. She’s a two-time winner of
the Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award, and also a winner of the Carol Award, two Will Rogers Medallions, and a finalist in the WILLA Literary Awards and
the More Than Magic Contest. Visit her website at: www.susanpagedavis.com .
What a great post, Susan! We all can identify with chewing gum but I sure didn't know we have Santa Anna to thank for it. My mother now has dementia and one of her pleasures is chewing gum.
ReplyDeleteThat's oddly sweet, Melanie. Glad you enjoyed the post.
DeleteOne of the quirks of history, I suppose, Santa Anna and chewing gum.....a bit hard to fathom! Very interesting, as usual, blog post! dixiedobie at yahoo dot com
ReplyDeleteThanks! Have a blessed Thanksgiving.
DeleteThank you for the post. I think I had heard that about Santa Anna before, but I had forgotten it. I didn't know about all the others involved, though. I always like learning new stuff. Have a happy Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeletesusanmsj at msn dot com
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteYou're welcome, Susan.
DeleteOh, how interesting! I didn't know the origin of chewing gum until now. Thanks for sharing, Susan. Happy Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeletetexaggs2000@gmail.com
I certainly didn't know this about the origins of chewing gum! Thanks for this informative post. I'd love to win one of Susan's books, especially Seven Brides for Seven Texans.
ReplyDeletepmkellogg56[at]gmail[dot]com
You're entered,Pam.
DeleteI didn't know Santa Anna was a "chewer." My dad chewed Black Jack and also a cinnamon-flavored Beemon's. Thanks for the memory!
ReplyDeleteSo cool...who knew? I would SO love to win this book. Please enter me.
ReplyDeletedebsbunch777(at)gmail(dot)com
Thanks, Debbie, and all of you. Dealing with travel challenges for internet, but hope you all have a great Thanksgiving.
DeleteSusan is have Internet issues and has asked me to post the winner of her book drawing: Pam Kellogg won a copy of Seven Brides for Seven Texans. Congratulations, Pam! Susan will email you about the book.
ReplyDeleteSusan is have Internet issues and has asked me to post the winner of her book drawing: Pam Kellogg won a copy of Seven Brides for Seven Texans. Congratulations, Pam! Susan will email you about the book.
ReplyDelete