Gum Secrets

Chewing gum isn't what it seems anymore. Check out these bubble-blowing facts.

• Chewing gum was banned in Singapore until 2004.



• The first bubble gum was made in 1906 and was called "Blibber-Blubber."



• A 5,000 year old piece of chewing gum was discovered in Finland.



• The color of the first successful bubble gum was pink because it was the only color the inventor had left. The color "stuck" and today bubble gum is still predominantly pink.



• North American kids spend approximately half a billion dollars on bubble gum every year.



• Nine out of ten city paving stones have had gum stuck to them.



• Three and a half billion pieces of gum are disposed of every year in the UK.



• Getting gum off the pavement takes expensive jet sprays or chemical treatments.



• The average American chews around 300 sticks of gum in a year.



• 100,000 tons of bubble gum are chewed every year.



• The invention of bubble gum was an accident. Walter E. Diemer was trying to accomplish something else but ended up with bubble gum.



• If you want to buy bubble gum in Malaysia, ask for Shee Yung Tung. In Austria, call it Kaugummi.



• When bubble gum first arrived in Africa some men traded their wives for it.



• Once in New Guinea a headhunter demanded bubble gum as part of the ransom for a western diplomat.

So next time you chew, think of the dark side of gum.