American Chicle Company facts for kids
The American Chicle Company was a very important company that made chewing gum. It was started by Thomas Adams, Jr., along with Edward E. Beeman and Jonathan Primle. This company brought together many smaller gum makers to become one big chewing gum business.
Meet Thomas Adams, the Gum Pioneer
Thomas Adams (born May 4, 1818 – died February 7, 1905) was a clever American inventor from the 1800s. Many people see him as the person who helped create the chewing gum industry we know today.
Adams got the idea for gum while working for a former leader from Mexico, Antonio López de Santa Anna. This leader chewed a natural gum called chicle. Adams first tried to use chicle to make rubber for tires. When that didn't work, he decided to turn the chicle into chewing gum. He called his first gum "New York Chewing Gum."
In 1870, Adams made the first gum with a special flavor: black licorice. He named it Black Jack. Just one year later, in 1871, Adams received a patent for the very first machine that could make chewing gum. By 1888, his gum was the first to be sold in vending machines, making it easy for everyone to buy!
The Story of the American Chicle Company
The American Chicle Company officially started in Trenton, New Jersey, on June 2, 1899. It brought together several chewing gum businesses from different cities. These included:
- Adams Sons & Company from Brooklyn, New York
- W. J. White & Sons from Cleveland, Ohio
- J. P. Primley from Chicago
- Kis-Me Gum Company from Louisville, Kentucky
- S. T. Britten & Co. from Toronto
The company also owned factories and even forests where chicle was gathered in Yucatan.
In 1915, the company launched one of its most famous products: Chiclets chewing gum.
Over the years, the American Chicle Company became part of bigger companies. In 1962, a medicine company called Warner-Lambert bought it. Then, in 2000, Pfizer bought Warner-Lambert. Later, in 2003, Cadbury bought Pfizer's candy brands, including the gum brands. Finally, in 2010, Kraft Foods (now called Mondelez International) bought Cadbury.
The American Chicle Company was renamed Adams in 1997. Sadly, many of the original American Chicle brands are no longer made. Chiclets, which was probably their most famous product, was stopped in 2016.
See also
- American Chicle Company Building, New Orleans
- Charles Ranlett Flint
