Confection Perfection

Promoters have claimed that chewing gum soothes your nerves, preserves your teeth, aids digestion, and enhances your sex appeal!

So go ahead, chew gum today in honor of William Finley Simple, the first person to patent the product on December 28, 1869.

Since prehistoric times, humans have satisfied their need to chew with tree resin and sap. However, chewing gum was not manufactured for sale until the 1840s. Over the years, different ingredients were devised. Semple's patent covered a chewing gum made with rubber. In 1869, another successful recipe introduced Mexican chicle—or sap from the sapodilla tree—as a rubber substitute.

In 1888, the nation's first vending machines appeared on New York City subway platforms, and guess what they sold! Tutti-frutti chewing gum.

Pictured: Wayne Thiebaud, born 1920, Gum Machine, from the book Delights, 1964/publishied 1965, etching on paper, 3 7/8 x 3 7/8 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. Frank Lobdell, San Francisco.