Chew on This: Top 9 Unbelievable Fun Facts About Gum You Never Knew!

1. 9,000-Year-Old Gum

Chewing gum: nature's prehistoric jaw workout and mankind's ancient stress-reliever! Well, guess what? The oldest known piece of chewing gum is a whopping 9000 years old, discovered on the Swedish island of Orust and made from chewed birch resin. Oh, how our ancestors loved their resiny refreshments, along with other chewy delights like sweet grasses, leaves, grains, and waxes. Talk about diverse taste buds! From the Greeks chomping down on Mastiche to the Mayans turning Sapodilla sap into jaw-flexing goodness, the history of chewing gum really sticks to one's memory.
Source => chewinggumfacts.com

2. Pre-Meal Gum Trick

Here's some food for thought for gum enthusiasts: it turns out that chomping on some sugar-free gum for half an hour before a meal is almost like a magical preemptive strike against calories and can make you feel full before you even take your first bite! But beware, a gum-a-day habit might not keep the dentist away: excessive mastication, sugar-free or not, can lead to jawaches, headaches, and tooth decay wreaking havoc on your pearly whites.
Source => riverwalkdentalorthodontics.com

Did you know that popcorn was once considered a buttery menace in classy movie theaters? 🍿 Discover how this tiny villain transformed into the king of concession stands as movies grew talkative in 1927 and the Great Depression hit.

=> Fun Facts about Popcorn

3. Seattle's Gum Wall

You know what sticks like gum to a wall? Gum itself, especially when it's a famous landmark adorned with multicolored, chewed spheres of gum: Enter the Market Theater Gum Wall in Seattle, Washington, a 50 by 15-foot unintentional creation that began in the 1990s. Over 2,350 pounds of gum were stripped off in 2015, only for visitors to keep contributing to this ever-sticky, ever-popular, and ever-artistic attraction.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

4. Sugar-Free Longevity

Gums undercover: Sugar-free acts as a double agent, offering up a secret weapon – longevity! In a delicious plot twist, sugar-free gum flavors outlast their sugary counterparts thanks to lab-engineered sweeteners and flavor formulas designed for extended taste bud stimulation: As you chew, the flavor disperses while the gum base lingers, providing you with a longer-lasting treat and proving that sometimes it's the sugarless side of life that truly packs the punch.
Source => sites.psu.edu

5. Bazooka's Penny Past

Hey, penny for your thoughts, but how 'bout a penny for your bubble gum too? That's right, folks, the humble beginnings of Bazooka bubble gum will have you blowing bubbles and digging for spare change: Bazooka was originally sold for a mere penny per piece post-WWII! Decked out in red, white, and blue packaging, it introduced our beloved "Bazooka Joe" comic strips in 1953. With over 1,535 collectible comics, our gum-chewing pastime was a true American classic – that is, until 2012 when those comics were swapped for brain-teasing puzzles.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

6. Gum in WWII

In a sticky situation on the battlefield, soldiers turned to an unlikely ally to save the day: chewing gum! That's right, during WWII, approximately 630 sticks of gum were incorporated into every serviceman's meal rations, providing a morale boost, aiding in social interaction with allies, and, inadvertently, leading to environmental impact and the subsequent development of synthetic gum bases after the war.
Source => disposableamerica.org

7. Ancient Gum Traditions

Before bubble gum met pop culture and made it stick: Chewing gum has been around for ages, with the Mayans and Aztecs chewing on chicle, Ancient Greeks chew-munching mastic gum, and a Kentucky pharmacist named John Colgan delighting 1860s taste buds with flavored gum derived from the balsam tree.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

8. Bubble Gum's Birth

When life gives you gum, blow bubbles: Back in 1928, Walter E. Diemer, a mere 23-year-old accountant at a gum manufacturing company, accidentally saved us from sticky faces by inventing a gum that could stretch enough to create bubbles. Originally colored pink to make a splash, bubble gum sales skyrocketed and eventually inflated to a whopping $1.2 billion annually by the 1990s.
Source => latimes.com

9. Caffeinated Gum Buzz

Move over, espresso shots, and make way for caffeine-packed chews: Alert Energy Caffeine Gum contains a buzz-worthy 40 mg of caffeine per piece, equating to half a cup of coffee—however, the FDA is investigating the impact of added caffeine on youngsters, and the manufacturer recommends this gum exclusively for adults in need of a pick-me-up, keeping it out of reach of children and caffeine-sensitive individuals.
Source => cnn.com