Chewy Commemorations

Bubble gum always gets me feeling a little nostalgic. I really don’t chew it anymore and even if I do, it’s of the adult-flavoured un-fun variety. Let’s look back at some of the best brands from back in the day:

Dubble Bubble

Do you remember how amazing it was to stick your head in the Dubble Bubble 500-piece bucket and inhale!? What the company never told people is that that experience probably gave youth their very first high! I remember one time when I was young and dumb (as opposed to my current status of older and still dumb) and we were eating so much of the gum that I actually got a chewing headache. We were making gum sandwiches – a piece of gum, wrapped by two other pieces of gum – and popping the stuff like it was the last of its kind. In our frenzy, we didn’t even bother reading those amazing comics attached to the candy… yes, that was sarcasm!

Big League Chew

The gateway gum to chewing tobacco! In actuality, it was a baseball player (minor leaguer Rob Nelson) that came up with the product, hoping to provide teammates with an option to nasty and health-hazardous chaw. He may not have ever hit the pros, but Nelson should be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame for his invention. The flavour names for Big League Chew were pretty creative. You had stuff like Outta Here Original, Ground Ball Grape, Curveball Cotton Candy, Slammin’ Strawberry, Swingin’ Sour Apple, and Wild Pitch Watermelon, all to go along with the baseball theme.

Thrills

I have never been able to explain my affinity for this gum. I mean, who really wants to put something in their mouth that tastes like soap? That’s supposed to be a punishment for swearing! Yet, I will happily pick up a pack of Thrills when I can find one. And the company is proud of the flavour – described as floral rosewater – branding its packaging with the slogan: “It still tastes like soap!”

Bubble Tape/Bubble Jug

These two unique delivery devices changed the bubble gum game and shook the industry to its core… okay, that may be a little overdramatic, but the products definitely put a new spin on how kids enjoyed their chewing. Bubble Tape was like having a six-foot tape measure that you could eat. There was even a mega roll, measuring 10 feet of chewing pleasure. As for Bubble Jug, I never could figure out their formula (I’m no Walter White… and that’s probably a good thing!), but somehow this fine powder would turn into a wad of bubble gum. Sure, the container sent the odd (and perhaps dangerous) message that you could consume what was in a laundry detergent-looking bottle, but whateves.

Card Pack Gum

How cool was it to not only get a pack of cards (sports, TV shows, movies, bands, otherwise), but also receive a little bonus treat with your collectable memorabilia? Depending on how old the pack of cards was, you were in for a stiff chewing experience! I bet someone out there chipped a tooth on this stuff at some point. For those that still have unopened packs of Topps, O-Pee-Chee, Bowman, Fleer, etc. for collecting purposes, that gum has to be at least four decades old, likely made with materials that are now banned by food and drug administrations. Now, that sounds like a fun experiment in stupidty!

Hubba Bubba

You could blow some pretty massive bubbles with these soft-chew pieces… and thanks to being less sticky than other varieties, folks didn’t have to worry about getting the gum stuck all over their face, hair, or worse. What that “worse” could be is totally up to your imagination. Perhaps the best thing about Hubba Bubba products was their overwhelming flavours, which actually lasted quite long and smelled great, even while still wrapped up.

Flavour Revolution: Purple Chew

• 1.5 oz Three Olives Bubble Vodka
• Top with Grape Soda
• Splash of Sour Mix
• Garnish with Bubble Gum

Some chewable mentions go to Chiclets, Gold Nuggets, Fruit Stripe, GatorGum (the gum for athletes), and Blow Pops. Thank god there’s now a bubble gum-flavoured vodka, allowing us all to go back to our childhoods and chewing memories. At least with this version, we’re able to swallow the gum and not worry about it staying in our stomachs for years!

Sip Advisor Bar Notes (3.5 Sips out of 5):
This recipe calls for the Three Olives Purple Vodka (grape flavoured), but since I didn’t have it on hand and really wanted to take a crack at the cocktail, I went with Grape Soda instead. This is actually the first time I have ever used Grape Soda on this site! The drink came together pretty well with a nice mixture of bubble gum and grape… likely exactly what they were going for!