When my brother and I were little, our bedrooms were located on the second floor of our family's Long Island Cape style home. Mom would tuck us in and as she'd venture back downstairs, we'd yell to her, "Buy you bubble gum!" Not "Goodnight" or "I love you" but, "Buy you bubble gum!" Mom would always answer back with, "Me too! Buy you bubble gum!" I think my younger brother may have started this trend. I don't really remember how it began. I just recall it being a nightly ritual.
We loved bubble gum. Mom usually bought us sugar free Trident, but everyone knows the "fun" gum was Bubble Yum, Hubba Bubba and Bubblicious. I mean, who wants a gum that "four out of five dentist recommend for their patients who chew gum" or whatever that claim was. Ironically, today I only chew Trident or sugarless Dentyne Ice.
Here's a quick lesson on my three childhood favorites. Each deliciously sweet bubble gum brand was released in the late 1970s. The idea that they aren't sticks of gum, but actually "chunks" or "blocks" of gum make them all the more fun.
Brand: Bubble Yum
Who Makes It: Hershey since 2000
Birth Year: 1975 from LifeSaversClaim to Fame: First soft bubble gum ever invented
Random Factiod: In 1977, rumors began to spread that the gum's soft, chewable secret was the addition of spider eggs. This rumor was squashed when LifeSavers addressed the rumor in full-page ads in all the big newspapers including the New York Times.
Most Fun Flavors: Jolly Rancher Watermelon, Chocolate, Cotton Candy
Calories: 25 per chunk
Brand: Hubba Bubba
Who Makes It: Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company owned by Mars, Inc.
Birth Year: 1979
Claim to Fame: "Big bubbles, no troubles" -- marketed as first nonstick to your face bubble gum (from bubble blowing)
Random Factiod: While in early stages of development, Hubba Bubba was referred to as "Stagecoach"-- their early ad campaigns had a western theme.
Most Fun Flavors: Sour Double Berry, Island Punch, Sweet and Sassy Cherry
Calories: 23 per chunk
Who Makes It: Cadbury Adams
Birth Year: 1977
Claim to Fame: Bubblicious is the #1 selling gum in the US
Random Factiod: Bubblicious holds the Guinness Book of World Record for the most bubble gum bubbles blown at one time.
Most Fun Favors: Lightning Lemonade, Bubblicious Carnival Cotton Candy, Paradise Punch
Calories: 25 per chunk
Ohhhh...my jaw hurts just reading this!
ReplyDeleteI was a Fruit Stripes fan myself. The flavor only lasted 10 seconds so you could eat a whole pack in 3 minutes.
Oh my gosh. I chewed all of these; my favorite was the blue berry Bubbalicious, actually anything blue. :)
ReplyDeleteAlso I loved "Freshen-Up" because it had the syrup inside. Yum!
Yes Fruit Stripe was yummy but stick gum and Freshen-Up I loved, the pink bubble gum flavor was my favorite!
ReplyDeleteOh, I forgot about Fruit Stripes; true, the flavor only lasted a few seconds.
ReplyDeleteMy local grocer always carried "Slush Puppy" bubble gum, which I chewed probably more than any other brand.
Another favorite - tiny chiclets. lol
I'm chewing Trident as I read this. True story. But, hello! Bubblicious was the bomb! But NOT watermelon. Anything watermelon flavored in nasty. But that's just my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI wish I'd had stock in all of those!
ReplyDeleteTheir regular bubble gum is the best ever. I like to bite off little peices but I can't help but swallow them whole. Doesn't take me long to get through a pack of those.
ReplyDeleteOther gum like Trident I can acually chew...for awhile. Until I bite the inside of my cheek which happens everytime. The bitten cheek then swells preparing it perfectly for two more or so bites. After that I give up on the gum and go about my day and have cheek pain for a week.
Same things with slurpies. Once I get the staw working I think I am drinking a Big Gulp pop and give myself terrible brain freeze.
I LOVED it all. I don't remember all those flavors. This makes me want some cotton candy gum. Ooh, they still make fruit stripe gum, but I don't think they make this good stuff anymore. Thanks for all the interesting info and this fun post, Ally.
ReplyDeletexoRobyn
I remember Hubba Bubba commercials! Wow, talk about a blast from the past.
ReplyDeleteI know these gums and I sometimes chewed them in a pinch. I always thought bubble gum should be "bubble gum" flavored. taste like bubble gum! "Bazooka" and "Dubble Bubble" were my favorites. Does that make me a stuffy traditionalist?
ReplyDeleteThe Lightning Lemonade Bubblicious was (and still is) my very favorite flavor!
ReplyDeleteAh! My son had a dollar the other day and wanted to buy some gum...he really, really wanted some Bubbalicious, but I couldn't do it. He got the money from the tooth fairy and I just couldn't let him chew on a pound of sugar...but I love Bubbalicious!
ReplyDeleteLike most things, purple was my favourite flavour of Hubba Bubba.
ReplyDeleteGreat review ally. I want some chocolate bubble yum now.
ReplyDeleteI was just going to leave a comment and ask if you remembered Fruit Stripes gum, but apparently the first commenter beat me to it!!!! :)
ReplyDeleteLeft you something on my page...
http://thelittleblondegirl.blogspot.com/2010/06/sharing-blog-love.html
I always thought hubba bubba was sweeter. Though it didn't matter 'cause (like you) my mom said we were only allowed to have trident. And yes, I totally remember those western HB commercials. Had a very famous character actor in 'em as I recall.
ReplyDeleteBTW... kudos to you Ally for digging up all these incredible factoids day after day. Truly amazing!!!
It sucks when you have a beard, and blow big bubbles and they pop all over your face. Very hard to clean it off.
ReplyDeleteEven Hubba Bubba will stick.
I loved hubba bubba... here's a story that shows my bad side. A friend of mine and I use to go to the local 5 and dime and we'd take her baby sister with us. One time we forgot our money, so we stole one pack of hubba bubba and put it in her little sisters diaper!! LOL I hadn't thought of that in years!
ReplyDeleteMy mom never let us get gum! Every Halloween, she made us segregate the Double Bubble from the rest of the candy and throw it away! Every few months, though, she'd buy us each a pack of Fruit Stripes. Yum!
ReplyDeleteSpider eggs! Hahaha I remember that lol...
ReplyDeleteI still love this stuff. Everytime we travel, Husband and I will stop at the random backwoods gas stations. They always have the best flavors! We got blueberry on our last trip...it was very exciting!
ReplyDeleteSpider eggs? ROFL!!! I used to love all those brands of gum.
ReplyDeleteI don't chew gum anymore. It seriously gives me the farts. Not kidding. Who knew I swallowed so much air when I chew gum?!
Bazooka was the best...came with a comic joke, too!
ReplyDeleteMy brother when he was in the 5th grade would buy 10 packs of hubba bubba and bubbilicious at dollar stores in the states, take them to Canada, and then sell them at school for jacked up prices.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite was always those watermelon green and red ones.
Bazooka always hurt my teeth. It was too hard for my kid teeth.
ReplyDeleteOh yes! I love this! I LOVED the gum in the tap dispenser. Loved it!
ReplyDeleteBubble Yum or Bubblicious. For whatever reason, I just didn't like Hubba Bubba. I usually chose watermelon, or maybe grape as my flavors.
ReplyDeleteHey Hiya Ally, do you remember a post you made about how you felt when someone "unfollowed" your blog? I think it was fairly recent. I've looked but can't seem to find it. =/
ReplyDelete1950s, hey sweetie!
ReplyDeleteHere's the link to that article...
Dumped By A Fellow Blogger
I loved these! I still buy them when I'm feeling nostalgic.
ReplyDeleteI REMEMBER that Hubba Bubba commercial! Ah, memories! My parents were terrible, terrible people and only let us kids chew Trident, because it was SUGARLESS! I never enjoyed the awesome lusciousness of Hubba Bubba or Bubblicious! Poor, poor me!!
ReplyDeletei loved all of these.
ReplyDeletethe fruit punch flavors were always my favorite.
Oh, I know! I know! Mint Bubble Gum was my most favorite followed closely by grape Bubble Gum. To this day, I love chewing bubble gum except now they put in a bunch of crap I am allergic to, like soy or wheat. Bah! But I found I can still chew Double Bubble. I love that stuff!
ReplyDeleteHiya Miss Ally!
I have the jingle stuck in my head now!!
ReplyDeleteGrape was my favorite.
My favorite gum as a kid was Fruit Stripe and Trident. Some kid told me that you didn't have to take the wrapper off before eating Trident and I totally believed them for years.
Oh God, this kind of gum gave me so many cavities. Probably my own fault, but who wants to brush their teeth after they chew gum?
ReplyDeleteI loved Bubbalicious, especially watermelon and cotton candy.
I bought some bubble tape (anyone?) the other day just for nostalgia sake. It was yum.
Bubble Yum and Bubblicious were both good - I personally liked Hubba Bubba.
ReplyDeleteIronically, that only returned to the USA recently. It was discontinued sometime around 1995 or 1996.